Combines with linemate Connor for 5 goals, 8 points; Tavares scores 200th goal with Toronto

Jets at Maple Leafs | Recap

By Dave McCarthy

NHL.com Independent Correspondent

December 23, 2024

TORONTO -- Mark Scheifele had a hat trick and four points for the Winnipeg Jets in a 5-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.

"We didn't try to chase the game," Scheifele said. "When they got sustained pressure, we got in front of our net. [Connor Hellebuyck] made some big saves and we just stuck with it."

Kyle Connor scored twice and had two assists, and Hellebuyck made 23 saves for the Jets (25-10-1), who are 5-1-1 in their past seven games.

"I thought it took us a bit to find our game in the first period," Connor said. "We did do a good job of putting pucks to the net and being simple coming through the neutral zone. That's something that we talked about. Obviously the way [the Maple Leafs] sit back in the 1-2-2, you can't be making cross-ice passes, they're going to get picked off. We just made it simple and just kind of built on that momentum."

John Tavares scored twice, and Joseph Woll made 20 saves for the Maple Leafs (21-12-2), who have lost two in a row, each without captain Auston Matthews, who is out with an upper-body injury.

"I think our team overall has played some real good hockey and done a lot of good things," Toronto coach Craig Berube said. "We've made a lot of strides in the right direction, and we will again but these last two games (also 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday), we've slept."

Connor gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 16:04 of the first period on the power play. After Gabriel Vilardi deflected a point shot from Josh Morrissey at the top of the crease, Connor put in the rebound from the bottom of the right faceoff circle for his 20th goal of the season, the eighth-straight season he has scored at least that many.

WPG@TOR: Connor whips in a rebound for a power-play gpal

Connor made it 2-0 at 1:16 of the second period when he tapped in a pass from Scheifele on a 2-on-1.

"It was great," Connor said of Scheifele's pass. "Not too often that you're driving it back post with your backhand there. It's something where I had a step on him, the D-man, and just kind of kept going and he kind of double-clutched it at first and then kind of saw that I had him beat and threw it in there. It was a great pass. Obviously, [Scheifele] had to beat the man that was on him and feather it in there."

Tavares cut it to 2-1 at 5:25 on the power play when he put in a cross-slot pass from Mitch Marner at the side of the net. It was his 200th goal with the Maple Leafs.

"We played a real good first period," Berube said. "We got a penalty, and they scored on the power play but I thought we were the better team. Even in the second I liked our game, but we've got to clean up the mistakes, the details. The game is right there, we created enough. But we didn't score enough goals obviously tonight, but we did a lot of good things tonight. I thought we checked well tonight but we've got to clean up some stuff."

Scheifele pushed it to 3-1 at 3:27 of the third period when he beat Bobby McMann for positioning to the top of the crease and redirected a pass from Vilardi.

Scheifele jammed in a loose puck from behind the net for a 4-1 lead at 11:57 for his 20th goal of the season, the 10th straight season he has scored at least that many.

WPG@TOR: Scheifele nets 3 goals in the 3rd period for a hat trick

Winnipeg became the first team in the NHL this season with two 20-goal scorers.

"When your top guys can do that, it gets the opposition on their heels a little bit," Jets coach Scott Arniel said. "They have to be aware of when they're on the ice at all times. And when you can go out on the road and your top line can do that, it certainly leads to lots of success.

Scheifele, Connor and Vilardi combined for 11 points (five goals, six assists).

"Their top line is as elite as any in making plays and taking advantage when they get time and space and you're chasing them," Tavares said.

Tavares cut it to 4-2 at 13:42 when he took a pass from Jake McCabe and shot blocker side from the high slot.

Scheifele completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:39 for the 5-2 final.

Winnipeg had lost the past six games against Toronto (0-5-1), including 6-4 at home on October 28, their first loss after starting the season 8-0-0.

"I think the biggest thing is we didn't play our best when we played them last," Scheifele said. "We were excited to get another crack at them and show them the game that we can play. All in all, it's a big win for us and that's pretty much it."

NOTES: Tavares, who scored 272 goals with the New York Islanders, became the fifth player in NHL history to score 200 goals for two teams, joining Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings), Lanny McDonald (Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames), Mark Messier (Oilers, New York Rangers) and Keith Tkachuk (Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues). … Jets defenseman Haydn Fleury appeared to injure his right leg in a battle for a loose puck with Maple Leafs defenseman Connor Dewar and left the game at 19:06 of the second period. Arniel said he "tweaked the lower body" and is day to day... The Maple Leafs were also without defenseman Chris Tanev, who was scratched after taking the warmup because of a lower-body injury.