The Game 6 overtime win was an emotional one on both sides of the rink.
For the Dallas Stars there was happiness and relief that they got it done and did not have to go back to Winnnipeg for a Game 7. However, there was also heartbreak and remembrance of circumstance and life for some. Ahead of Game 6, it was announced that Mark Scheifele found out his father passed away unexpectedly the night before.
Schiefele made the decision, with the support of his family and teammates, to play in Game 6, in hopes to buy them another trip up north. And just as a storybook would be written, Scheifele opens up the scoring and gets his team a 1-0 lead in the second period. The Stars would go on to tie the game up several minutes later and the score would remain evened up until the last 15 seconds of the game when Scheifele gets called for a tripping penalty to stop a breakaway.
The first power-play of the game for the Stars would bleed into overtime where Thomas Harley would put a dagger into the Jets season with Scheifele sitting in the box, head hanging. A moment that most, even Stars fans, did not want to see even though it meant their team's season continues on.
One of the greatest traditions in hockey is the handshake line at the end of the series. Men who were just trying to rip each other's heads off, in the name of a trophy, are now shaking hands and wishing each other good luck into the next round. The handshake line between the Stars and Jets was no different in that respect, except this moment hit a little harder for Mason Marchment.
Marchment, who lost his father, Bryan Marchment, just shy of three years ago. Marchment was 27 years old when his father suddenly passed away at 53 years old. One week after, while trying grieving the unexpected lost, Marchment was signed by the Stars on the first day of free agency. So when it came to what Scheifele was not only going through but also understanding that the hockey world doesn't stop, he had some thoughtful words of advice for the guy who was an enemy just moments ago.
When asked about what he said to Scheifele, Marchment stated, "Just trying to help him through some emotions that I was going through. 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."
Last night in Dallas, there was an important hockey game played but at the end of the night, in the middle of the ice, it was just hockey players putting everything aside to be there for each other in a moment that is bigger than the game.
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