Winnipeg

Despite his best efforts, Adam Lowry could not hold back the tears.

And you could hardly blame him, given the cruel set of circumstances that had just unfolded.

The captain of the Winnipeg Jets was sitting at the podium and was doing his best to summarize the wave of emotions that had taken place during the previous 13 hours or so.

Not only had the Jets spent a good chunk of the day lending support to teammate Mark Scheifele after his father Brad passed away at the age of 68, this memorable season came to an end after a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 6 to the Dallas Stars inside American Airlines Center.

To add to the emotional toll, the game ended on a Stars power play goal from Thomas Harley that came with 13 seconds left in a tripping minor to Scheifele, who got his stick into the skates of Sam Steel to prevent a clear-cut breakaway in the waning seconds of regulation time on a play that could have been called a penalty shot.

“It’s just an awful day for him (emotionally). You want to give him the strength, you want to get that kill so bad. We just couldn’t do it,” said Lowry. “Heartbreaking. We felt like we had a great regular season, we felt like we had a team that could go on a run. For it to end the way it did and everything else surrounding the day, it’s just a lot of emotion.

“It’s tough to put into words what Mark went through. Gets a huge goal for us, plays a heck of a game, and it ends the way it does. Just emotional, heavy. Really proud of the group we had. The commitment, the no quit. A lot of things that a good team needs. We ran into a great Dallas team. We couldn’t find that extra one and that was the difference.”

Lowry showed his tremendous leadership during the course of the day, beginning with his glowing words about what type of person Brad Scheifele was when he spoke to reporters at the arena in the morning.

After the overtime winner was scored, there was Lowry heading to the box to console Scheifele.

And after Scheifele made his way through the handshake line, Lowry waited to provide one more tap on the shin pads before the Jets alternate captain made his way off the ice for the final time this season.

“We’re there for him. we’re a family, Scheif’s a big part of our family, and we’re here for him, no matter what,” said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. “So that’s a ‘we weren’t leaving the ice without him’ kind of thing. Did everything we could to get him and his family a win, just didn’t pull through.”

The Jets weren’t the only ones offering support for Scheifele.

While sharking hands, each of the Stars players and coaches stopped to say something to Scheifele and many provided an extra hug for the Jets’ centre.

One of the longest embraces was with Stars captain Jamie Benn, the same player who caught Scheifele with a stiff punch to the face in the third period of Game 5.

“I just told him that I respected him as a competitor, and as a hockey player,” said Benn. “You can grow to not like guys throughout a playoff series, but when it’s all over, I told him I respect him as a player.

“I wanted to let him know that it took a lot of courage for him to play today in a tough situation. I’m not sure too many guys would have done that in his situation. So, I respected it. I know every guy in our room respected it, and our whole organization respected it.”

That respect was noticeable and you can be sure that Scheifele appreciated it a great deal.

Let’s take a closer look at this one:

THIS ONE’S FOR DAD

Scheifele endured one of the toughest things a person can go through, finding out that his father had passed away late Friday night.

Despite having to deal with the emotional toll of losing someone that was so close to him, Scheifele didn’t hesitate to suit up with his teammates in Game 6.

Scheifele opened the scoring on Saturday, getting to the front of the net and depositing a rebound through the five-hole of Stars goalie Jake Oettinger after a shot by Kyle Connor at 5:28 of the second period.

Scheifele’s celebration and smile as his teammates gathered around him after the goal told you how much the moment meant to him.

“For him to go through what he had to go through, and perform the way he did, so proud of him,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “And his dad would be so proud of him. He wanted to win so bad. The circumstances, so, so tough. Being 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.”

The goal wouldn’t have happened without an excellent play down low by Gabe Vilardi, whose spin move against Stars blue-liner Lian Bischel helped create the passing lane to find Connor for the initial shot.

THE EQUALIZER

The Stars pulled even at 11:12 of the second period on a rebound goal of their own.

Stars D-man Thomas Harley took a low shot from a sharp angle and Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck kicked out a juicy rebound that found the stick of Sam Steel.

Steel, who has been energetic throughout the series, buried his shot high to the glove side of Hellebuyck, setting the stage for an exhilarating finish.

THE (HIGHLIGHT-REEL) SAVES

This was an outstanding goalie battle, with two Team USA netminders going up against one another, with tremendous saves being made at each end of the ice to ensure extra time was required to determine a winner.

During the third period, Lowry found Mason Appleton for what looked like an empty net, but Oettinger made a sprawling glove save to keep the game knotted 1-1.

Appleton looked to the sky in disbelief after the stop, which represented the best unconverted scoring chance the Jets had in the game.

Then, with roughly 2:30 to go in regulation time, Hellebuyck kicked out his left pad to prevent Mikael Granlund from scoring on a backhand rebound chance.

Like the team in front of him, Hellebuyck lost a 10th consecutive road playoff game, but he took a big step toward quieting the narrative about his play away from Canada Life Centre.

THE KEY PLAY

Thomas Harley blasted home a one-timer at 1:33 of the first overtime to deliver the knockout punch.

THE THREE STARS

1. Thomas Harley, Stars, Scored the series clinching goal and added an assist in 25 minutes of work.

2. Mark Scheifele, Jets, Scored the lone goal for the visitors, showing incredible strength while dealing with a monumental personal loss.

3. Jake Oettinger, Stars, Finished with 22 saves in what was another extraordinary effort.

THE INJURY

The Jets lost top blue-liner Josh Morrissey with 4:53 to go in the second period with what looked to be a left knee injury.

Morrissey was battling with Mikko Rantanen in the defensive zone and as he was trying to get some leverage on the Stars winger, the Jets’ D-man tripped the Stars’ winger.

As Rantanen was falling to the ice, Morrissey’s knee got caught underneath the Finnish forward, leaving him in discomfort as he left the ice.

Morrissey was holding his left knee and let out an audible expletive as he made his way to the bench. Once he had a quick word with Jets head athletic therapist Rob Milette, Morrissey had to be helped as he made his way down the tunnel to the locker room for further evaluation.

Following the game, Arniel didn’t get into specifics but some healing will be required, even if the full severity of the injury is not yet known.

“It’s not good,” said Arniel. “We’ll obviously get him home. He’s banged up pretty good.”

The Jets finished the game with five D-men, something they had to do in Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues after Morrissey left the game after three shifts with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

Prior to his departure on Saturday, Morrissey was flying. In just under 15 minutes of ice time, he had one shot on goal and five shot attempts, two hits and four blocked shots.

EXTRA, EXTRA

Special teams were a massive story in this series, as the Jets were outscored 7-3 in that department. The Harley goal allowed the Stars to finish seven-for-19 (31.8 per cent) on the power play, while the Jets were held without a man-advantage on Saturday and finished three-for-21 (14.2 per cent).

With Morrissey leaving the game, Pionk finished the contest with the most minutes of any Jets player, taking 34 shifts for 24:47 of action. Dylan Samberg was next at 23:35.

For the third time this series, the Stars opted to dress 11 forwards and seven defencemen, giving them some insurance with Miro Heiskanen working his way up to full speed while getting Rantanen some additional playing time. Heiskanen was up to 23:40 in Game 6, while Rantanen led the Stars’ forwards at 24:23.

Will it take a three-game winning streak or a series of three one-game winning streaks to keep the season alive?

No matter how you slice it, psychologically or otherwise, the Winnipeg Jets have reached the fork in the road where the room for error has transformed from slim to none.

By dropping the 3-1 decision to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, the Jets will face elimination for the second time in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel, back right, yells at his players on the ice in the third period of Game 4 of their second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Dallas, Tuesday.

By now, everyone knows how Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues turned out – thanks in part to the Manitoba Miracle that literally and figuratively brought a province to its feet, first in disbelief after a pair of six-on-five goals with the goalie on the bench in favour of an extra attacker sent the game to a fourth period.

Then, in exaltation after Jets captain Adam Lowry helped his team advance to the second round for the first time since 2021.

So, it’s clear the Jets can handle the pressure cooker that comes with putting your collective season on the line.

The issue now is whether or not they can avoid a knockout punch on three separate occasions in order to reach the NHLs Final Four.

Never mind the daunting nature of the task at hand.

The Jets can’t post a three-game winning streak without getting the first one and the opportunity to do so comes on Thursday at Canada Life Centre, where the Jets are 5-1 this spring – including a tidy 4-0 victory in Game 2 that left the series even.

A team that has prided itself on its ability to turn the page after debriefing the night before will once again try to achieve that goal.

Unlike most of the previous four road games played in the playoffs, the video session won’t resemble sifting through the rubble and seeking positive reinforcement.

By generating a total of 72 shot attempts on Tuesday, the Jets were able to create enough quality looks to win the hockey game.

But a sparkling performance from Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, who made 31 saves, limited the Jets to a single and solitary goal.

That goal came on a heads-up play at the end of a Jets’ power play by Nikolaj Ehlers, who was actually looking to pass the puck to the backdoor before he caught Oettinger cheating ever so slightly.

It was the only misstep of the contest for Oettinger, who has been the best goalie in this series through four games – even with Connor Hellebuyck recording a 21-save shutout in Game 2.

This was a night when the much-ballyhooed Jets’ offence let down its Vezina-winning goaltender, not the other way around.

What is also true is that Hellebuyck gave up a goal on a snapshot from distance in the first period from Mikael Granlund that needed to be stopped.

When it wasn’t, it left the Jets in a precarious position of chasing the game – something that has become far too familiar for them in this series.

Outside of Game 2, the Jets have been playing from behind far too often and that’s a big part of the reason they’ve ended up on the losing side of the ledger three times through four games.

The level of urgency is sure to come up for the Jets.

There isn’t a single player that is ready for this dream season to end, something that was apparent in the aftermath of Tuesday’s loss.

“We know what the message is,” Hellebuyck told reporters when asked about what might have been said in the room by Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We know what the stakes are.”

Arniel, himself, had a simple message when asked about the mentality required.

“Real simple,” he explained. “Don’t lose your last game.”

That could be easier said than done, considering this edition of the Stars has yet to lose consecutive games through 11 outings in these Stanley Cup playoffs and are a highly motivated bunch after being eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference final last spring.

Dallas has been knocking at the door for years and is trying to get over the top for the first time since 1999, when that Stars’ championship team included Winnipeggers Mike Keane and Grant Ledyard and future Hall of Famer Eddie Belfour of Carman.

The Jets are chasing the first NHL title in franchise history and laid the groundwork for this run by putting together an outstanding regular season, one that resulted in a first Central Division crown, a Western Conference title and a Presidents’ Trophy.

Those experiences, coupled with some of the disappointments from the prior two playoff losses to the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche were supposed to regenerate some of that scar tissue – something Jets centre Mark Scheifele touched on prior to the start of the postseason.

There’s little doubt the Jets are battling and have put some of those valuable lessons to use here, but the road to the ultimate goal includes 16 victories and so far, this group has managed five.

Going out with a whimper simply isn’t an option for the Jets, not after all of the growth they’ve shown over the course of the past eight months or so.

This is a team that started the season with eight consecutive victories, lost a game and then rattled off seven straight wins.

The 15-1 start was the best in NHL history and essentially punched the Jets ticket to the playoffs in November.

As they managed the highs and lows of the marathon campaign, the Jets battled through adversity and pushed back all comers when it came to the division, the conference and first overall.

The Jets know what they look like when they’re at their very best and right now, they’re very best is exactly what’s going to be required to keep this season alive.

“Absolutely, you need to win four games to move on,” said Ehlers. “They’re at three, we’re at one. It can’t be more simple than that. We need to win.

“And I think with the crowd that we have at home, the amount of energy that they give to us every single game, (we) want to repay that by playing another few games in Winnipeg.”

A section of the Disraeli Bridge Roadway will aptly be called Bachman-Turner Overdrive following a dedication ceremony on April 18.

So far, of this list, I've only been to Dave and Laverne's. Highly recommend the smashburger.