The department of player safety has reached a verdict in the case of Mark Scheifele, handing out a four-game suspension to the Winnipeg Jets forward. Scheifele will miss Games 2 and of the Jets’ second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens with his team already down 1-0.
The incident occurred at the very end of the contest as Jake Evans scored a game-clinching empty-net goal, and it resulted in the Canadiens forward lying on the ice unconscious. Evans was eventually stretchered off the ice but did not require hospitalization. According to Montreal head coach Dominique Ducharme, the young forward (who turned 25 last night) suffered a concussion but is recovering.
For Scheifele, it means that he could very well miss a good chunk of this series should the Jets fail to come out victorious without their star center. Now 28, he recorded his fifth consecutive point-per-game campaign in 2020-21, scoring 63 in 56 during the regular season. In the first-round sweep against the Edmonton Oilers, Scheifele recorded five points but was kept completely off the board by Phillip Danault and company last night.
He received a five-minute major and game misconduct for the hit on Evans and also did not have a history of supplementary discipline. Still, he’ll now miss four games in the North Division-deciding series.
More must-reads: