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Gabriel Vilardi, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Dylan DeMelo of the Winnipeg Jets celebrate a goal (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)

Scheifele, Vilardi’s Big Games Lead Jets Over Flyers

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Andrew McGuinness | Last updated Mar 6, 2025 10:11 PM ET

Six days ago, the Winnipeg Jets and Philadelphia Flyers began their season up in the True North. Thanks to a stellar performance from goaltender Ivan Fedotov, the Flyers were able to grind out one of their most impressive wins of the season, beating the Presidents’ Trophy front-running Jets 2-1 in a shootout.

Thursday’s rematch at the Wells Fargo Center played out much differently, though. Winnipeg looked like the league’s best offensive team, with its top-ranked power play striking twice in the opening 20 minutes. The Flyers never found their A-game, leading to a comfortable 4-0 victory for the Jets in their third of six straight games against teams from the Metropolitan Division.

Game Recap

The Jets came out firing, taking the game’s first four shots and generating some quality looks early. Sam Ersson made some nice saves to settle into the game, but Winnipeg didn’t wait long to break through. A Matvei Michkov goalie interference call put the Jets on the power play eight minutes in, and Mark Scheifele capitalized with a rebound goal to put the visitors ahead 1-0.

Any momentum Philadelphia may have generated was erased when Tyson Foerster took an offensive zone tripping penalty with 5:30 remaining in the first. This time, Scheifele was the distributor on the Jets’ man advantage, chipping the puck to an uncovered Nikolaj Ehlers backdoor. Ehlers’ 20th goal of the season made it 2-0 Winnipeg as he became the first Jet other than Scheifele to score against Philadelphia this season.

The second period got off to a disjointed note before Scheifele’s brilliance struck again. This time, he whipped a cross-ice pass from blue line to blue line, springing Kyle Connor into the offensive zone. Connor unleashed a perfectly placed shot low to Ersson’s blocker side to stretch the Jets’ advantage to 3-0. The goal gave Scheifele his fifth three-point game of the season and first since he scored a hat trick and an assist on Dec. 23. Not to be outdone, Gabriel Vilardi assisted on each of the first three goals, recording his fifth three-point game as well.

But the Jets didn’t rest on their laurels, creating another tap-in goal when Mason Appleton danced around two Flyers at the blue line and hit a streaking Adam Lowry at the top of the crease. According to Inside Edge, the Jets have only lost once in the last two seasons when scoring at least four non-shootout goals, the fewest of any team.

Winnipeg’s victory was even more impressive given that it was a night off for Connor Hellebuyck. Eric Comrie, who entered February with one shutout in his first 69 NHL games, nearly pitched his second in four games. However, a late snipe by Michkov ended his hopes, as he got his belated 20th goal of the season after appearing to tally it Tuesday only for it to be credited to Sean Couturier. Michkov is the first rookie to reach that mark this season.

The Jets have a quick turnaround but short trip as they head down I-95 to face the New Jersey Devils. The Flyers will continue the early stages of their season-long seven-game homestand with a pair of weekend matinées against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday and the Devils on Sunday. But both teams have work to do before then in the front office as Friday’s 3 p.m. Eastern trade deadline looms large.