Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele scores goal in Game 6 loss, just hours after his father's unexpected death
Just hours after his father unexpectedly passed away, Mark Scheifele stepped out onto the ice to play for the Winnipeg Jets in their must-win Game 6 of their second-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars.
And he imposed himself on the game too, scoring the opening goal five minutes into the second quarter, which his teammates celebrated by engulfing him in a group hug.
But, later on, Scheifele had a tripping penalty with 14.8 seconds left of regulation and was in the penalty box when Thomas Harley scored the winning goal for the Stars 1:33 into overtime.
That goal secured a 2-1 win for the Stars, propelling them to the NHL Western Conference finals for the third season in a row and ending the Jets' bid for the Stanley Cup.
'(It's) heartbreaking,' said Jets captain Adam Lowry after the game, his voice thick with emotion.
'For it to end the way it did and everything else that was surrounding the day, it's just a lot of emotion, I think. It's tough to put into words what Mark went through today – it's a huge goal for us, plays a heck of a game, and it ends the way it does.'
As soon as the game was over, the Jets players once again huddled around Scheifele and many of them embraced him. The Stars players too, knowing the gravity and emotion of the day for Scheifele, hugged and talked to him in the handshake line afterward.
'We're there for him,' said Jets defenseman Neal Pionk. 'We're a family. Scheif's a big part of our family and we're here for him no matter what, we weren't leaving the ice without him. We did everything we could to get him and his family a win, just didn't pull through.'
That Scheifele played at all was remarkable. That he had a goal, won 7 of 12 faceoffs and had a team-high nine hits is even more remarkable.
'For him to go through what he had to go through, and then perform the way he did, so proud of him. And his dad would be so proud of him. He wanted to win so bad,' Jets coach Scott Arniel said afterward.
'The circumstances, so, so tough. To be in a situation like that, I couldn't imagine it. The pro that he is, the leader that he is, the year that he had with us, his dad and his family would be very proud of him.'
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Having a player low means you don't have to sacrifice the net front for pressure. I noticed Muse's U.S. NTDP teams ran the same penalty kill as the Rangers did last season. In the next video, take a look at the Americans' diamond alignment on the PK: Muse's U.S. team allowed only two power-play goals on 22 total opportunities en route to the 2023 gold medal, finishing the tournament with a 90-plus-percent success rate on the kill. The structure wasn't the entire reason for that success. Muse's high-energy, tandem forecheck allowed forwards to work off of each other in waves to disrupt the opponent's breakout. In the tandem system, the first forward (F1) pressures the puck carrier hard, often forcing the carrier to rim the puck around the boards or rush a defenseman-to-defenseman pass behind the net. The second forward (F2) reads the F1's angle and mirrors it, cutting off the first outlet or engaging in a secondary puck battle. The forwards interchange depending on the read, which means F2 can become F1 on the fly — this keeps puck-pressure high and reactive. Tandem forechecking allows for quick counterpressure if the first wave doesn't force a turnover, essentially trapping teams in a sequence of poor exits. Muse taught this with a layered-support mindset: Each action has a coverage fallback (such as a defenseman filling in when F2 overcommits). In those clips, you can see the forwards working off of each other to align themselves in the most annoying way possible. These same tendencies exist as far back as Chicago's run through the Clark Cup in 2017. You can see what's important on the penalty kill for a Muse-coached team: layers of puck support, read-based attacks that aim to make the second and third pass difficult, and structural alignment that permits aggression without sacrificing important real estate. The breakout reveals another common thread between Muse's teams. Both the U.S. NTDP and Chicago Steel worked the puck laterally to shift the forecheck and create space in the middle of the ice. Rather than relying on static wing support or long stretch passes, Muse's breakouts favor a five-man approach — defensemen hinge behind the net, forwards collapse low in layered routes, and outlets are built through short, high-percentage reads. It's a system designed to beat pressure with poise. When the defensemen hinge behind the net, the lead forechecker becomes trapped on an island in the middle of them. The forwards are back exceptionally deep, and an easy transitional pass is made. There is so much runway to attack, and the Steel blaze down the ice for a scoring chance. I noticed similar themes from the U.S. NTDP with Muse at the helm. The focus is on the middle of the ice. Muse doesn't ask young defensemen to make hero stretch passes or wingers to win 50-50 wall battles under pressure. He designs exits with predictable layers of help. Rather than sending the wingers high and risking a turnover at the line, Muse's teams pull their forwards deep, functioning like mobile outlets. As you'll see in the next clips, this setup beats the forecheck not with a single-thread pass but by offering sequential support — every move creates the next option, and as we saw in the penalty kill, tandem work is key. All of their forwards operate under the same center-like mindset. Being so deep at the genesis of the breakout gives faster forwards the opportunity to use a lot of runway to gain speed and burn through the middle of the ice, making easy lateral passes when necessary to layered support that can carry the torch. Advertisement Let's talk about Muse's pièce de résistance. In the 2023 U18 World Championship gold medal game, Muse's Americans faced a 2-0 deficit in the third period. Sweden utilized its speed and support along the wall to beat the U.S. forecheck and exploit the American defense in transition. The Swedes exhibited frustrating control over the neutral zone and seemed to be coasting their way to gold. Until they weren't. Halfway through the third period, the U.S. stopped trying to force possession-based zone entries. Instead, the Americans started simply dumping the puck into the Swedes' zone and punishing their defense. It worked. The U.S. overwhelmed Sweden and started creating intentional chaos in the zone by springing toward dumped pucks with speed. Muse's change worked. With a faceoff deep in their own end, the Americans crashed and banged their way to a goal. Off the ensuing faceoff, the Americans made it clear they'd heard their coach's message. They went straight north, dumped the puck in and kept applying the pressure. But this was a well-coached, mobile Sweden team that began to use the Americans' overzealousness on puck pursuit against it. Utilizing the wall, Sweden made short, strong-side passes that bypassed the U.S. forecheck. The pendulum swung back in favor of the Swedes, courtesy of some tactical work in the face of the Americans' fury. The U.S. tied the score with a power-play goal off an offensive-zone penalty by Sweden, but the Americans remained under duress. So, seeing that his team's pressure was risky, Muse called off the dogs and forced Sweden to try to knife its way through a U.S. trap. Muse put forth a token forechecker to apply feigned pressure while the rest of the team sat behind the red line, ready to pounce. The decision cooled the Swedes' jets and allowed the U.S. to make some possession-based zone entries off turnovers. In this clip, notice how much the U.S. changed its forechecking approach to sit back and allow Sweden to try to navigate the mess of bodies in the neutral zone. The strategy shift got the U.S. into overtime, where Ryan Leonard took over to cap the comeback and win gold. The Penguins needed a coach who could be a builder and developer without sacrificing the tactical side. Muse may be a first-time NHL head coach, but it's very clear why he reached this point. He's shown he prefers intentional puck support in all three zones and structured systems. Crucially, though, he also has shown he can adapt on the fly. How well will that philosophy translate to an NHL roster? We'll see, but Muse's foundation is clear. That might be exactly what's needed as the Penguins enter a new phase.
