Mark Scheifele, as ESPN commentator Bob Wischusen said after Scheifele's go-ahead goal Saturday night, was playing with a heavy heart in the Winnipeg Jets' Game 6 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Scheifele's father, Brad, unexpectedly died overnight, calling into question whether the Jets' alternate captain would play in the game, which, if the Jets lost, would end their season. Ultimately, Mark Scheifele decided to play and scored Winnipeg's lone goal of the game. As a result of a tripping call with 15 seconds left in regulation, he finished the game sitting in the penalty box as Thomas Harley scored a power-play goal a little more than 90 seconds into overtime.

Understandably, Scheifele was dejected after the loss. And during the post-series handshake line, numerous Stars players hugged and seemingly offered condolences and words of encouragement to the Jets star.

Mason Marchment, who assisted on Harley's game-winning goal, explained what he told Scheifele, having also lost his father, Bryan, in 2022.

“Just trying to help him through some emotions that I was going through,” Marchment said, via The Athletic's Mark Lazerus. “I just wanted to give him some words that I got told back when my dad passed that really helped me think a different way about it. To just kind of comfort him with what happened.”

Marchment, according to Lazerus, also said that his message to Scheifele was “basically just remembering the good times, and living your best life, because that’s what they would have wanted for us.”

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Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele (55) shakes hands with Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley (55) after the Stars defeat the Jets in the overtime period in game six of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center.
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Scheifele scored 5 goals this postseason — two in the Jets' first-round series win vs. the St. Louis Blues — and three against the Stars, including one in each of the series' final two games. He also had 6 assists in the playoffs, two of which against Dallas.

With the loss, the Jets' magical season is over. Winnipeg, which had the best start to a season in NHL history, went 56-22-4, winning the Central Division and the Presidents' Trophy in the process. Erratic goaltending nearly upended the team in the first round, though, and it took a nearly miraculous double-overtime Game 7 win to knock out St. Louis.

As for the Stars, they are now set to meet the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals. The two teams faced each other in the same place last season, which resulted in a 4-2 series win for Edmonton.

Game 1 of the WCF is set for May 21 in Dallas.