Jets Mark Scheifele scores goal day after fathers sudden death in emotional playoff moment

Jets center Mark Scheifele opened the scoring in Saturday’s Game 6 with a goal the day after finding out his father, Brad, unexpectedly died and hours after his status for the game remained up in the air.“That one’s for you, dad!” the SportsNet broadcaster said following the goal, and the Jets’ X account wrote that the goal midway through the second period was “meant to be.”Unfortunately for the Jets, it wasn’t enough as they suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars that eliminated them from the playoffs.Brad died overnight, Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff confirmed to reporters Saturday, and Scheifele didn’t participate in the team’s morning skate.Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel later confirmed that Scheifele would play.“We wish to give [Mark’s] family our most sincere condolences and obviously ask that everybody respect his and their privacy at this time,” Cheveldayoff said, adding that Dallas coach Scott Arniel had returned to the team’s hotel to support Scheifele.Going into Game 6, Scheifele sat second on the Jets in playoff points with four goals and six assists during their playoff run.In the regular season, Scheifele collected 39 goals along with a career-high 87 points.According to Cheveldayoff, other players on the Jets were notified on the death of Scheifele’s father Saturday morning.“It’s a terrible loss,” Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry said.“It’s tough to put into words how gutted we all feel for Mark and his family.“That’s such a big loss, that’s your mentor, that’s the person you looked up to growing up.

That’s the person you want to be like.So I think there’s just a lot of little things that you’ve got to do to really make sure Mark feels supported today and moving forward.”...