Scheifele says it was 'awful' to watch while injured, sees positives to take from Game 1
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The Winnipeg Jets were boosted by the return of star forward Mark Scheifele, but couldn't rally back against a dangerous Dallas Stars team in a 3-2 loss in the series opener.
Now, Winnipeg is in desperate need of an equalizer in Game 2 after losing Game 1 on home ice.
“It obviously wasn’t a great start, so obviously there are some things that we can do better," Scheifele said after the game.
Scheifele's goal on a wrist shot late in the second period cut the Stars' lead to one, but despite a flurry of attempts and good chances against Jake Oettinger in the third period, Winnipeg could not solve the veteran net minder.
“I don’t think we really found [our game] until the third period,” Scheifele said.
"We didn’t play great, and we were right in it, so there’s a positive you can take out of it. From there, we can move on to the next one.”
Scheifele's health was one of the key storylines entering the second-round series between the Jets and Stars.
The 32-year-old was held out of Games 6 and 7 against the St. Louis Blues in the first round with an undisclosed injury that forced him out of Game 5 earlier in the week. He had two goals and four assists for six points through five games of the series before the injury.
“It was awful,” Scheifele said of having to watch Games 6 and 7. “It’s a feeling that you don’t want to wish on anyone. It was tough to watch, but obviously just super proud of the boys for that Game 7 comeback and win and to make sure my season wasn’t ended. That was amazing by them and now we’ve moved on to another series.”
Winnipeg is also awaiting the return of defencemen Josh Morrissey and Logan Stanley, who each suffered injuries in the first round and skated in regular sweaters in Wednesday morning's gameday practice.
The Jets are now tasked with slowing down Mikko Rantanen, whose natural hat trick powered the Stars in the victory and has now scored eight goals over his last four games.
“Let’s see how long he can run this for,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer joked. “Yeah, he’s rolling and he’s feeling it. Pretty impressive, what he’s doing. I mean, considering the opponent and the time of year and how he’s dominating games - really impressive."