The Winnipeg Jets are out of the NHL playoffs after losing to the Dallas Stars in overtime on Saturday—the loss a particularly profound one for Winnipeg star Mark Scheifele. The 32-year-old played hours after his father died unexpectedly, reports the AP. Scheifele then factored in the game in a big way: He scored in the second period to put his team up 1-0, though Dallas later tied. Then, in the final seconds of regulation, Scheifele got called for tripping, a penalty that carried into overtime. Dallas scored early in OT as he sat in the penalty box.
"Just an awful day for him," an emotional Jets captain, Adam Lowry, said in his postgame news conference, per USA Today. "You want to give him strength. You want to get that (penalty) kill so bad. We just couldn't do it." (See players comfort him after the loss, including from the opposing team.) Scheifele learned his 68-year-old father, Brad, died overnight before the team's morning skate in Dallas, per Sportsnet in Canada. The team hasn't released the cause of death. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)