Mark Scheifele: Proactively Sprinting to Space
Mark Scheifele’s OT winner last night against San Jose made him the all time leading goal scorer in Jets franchise history, breaking Ilya Kovalchuk’s initial goal record of 328. Scheifele, most well known as a goal scorer and all around player, continues to showcase his brilliance off the puck to manage the situational flow of the game and understand how to get to space effectively.
Scheifele does a terrific job of sprinting off the puck, and the tremendous chemistry is linked between him, Kyle Connor, and Gabe Vilardi on that top line, arguably the best top line in the league at working in small areas with each other. The trio are also underrated when it comes to strength on pucks, and the trio can work in tandem to extend possession with their frame effectively.
Scheifele, individually, is arguably the smartest of the 3, where his off puck positioning really links well with his on-puck play to get to space effectively.
Scheifele was on the ice together with Nikolaj Ehlers instead here in the OT sequence, but the positioning and chemistry with Ehlers is really reminiscent of what the Jets’ top line is able to do regularly. They provide detailed puck support, they get to space, they take advantage of interior space and shooting opportunities off the flanks, and they assertively attack the inside.
With Ehlers and Scheifele here, immediately after Scheifele rotates high and sprints up ice, he gets goal side positioning on SJS’s D and gets interior. Ehlers shoots the puck upon retrieval, with the rebound coming loose and right to Scheifele in a high quality area of the offensive zone and slot.
Scheifele tips the puck home, and puts himself on the map as the top scorer in Jets’ franchise history thanks to his off puck movement and proactive brain.