Two key forwards miss practice for Jets

Injuries to important players have piled up at an inopportune time for the Winnipeg Jets and could lead to a quick playoff exit at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights. Down 3-1 in the series, 40-goal scorer Mark Scheifele left Game 4 with a suspected shoulder injury and was not on the ice at practice Wednesday, says Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe. He’s not expected to play in Game 5 Thursday night.

Scheifele, despite managing just one goal in the series, is a cornerstone piece of the team’s forward corps. With a mixed bag of news on some other Jets forwards, his absence still means they’ll need miracle performances from depth players such as Vladislav Namestnikov and Adam Lowry to pull off an improbable comeback in the series.

In even more concerning news, Wiebe also reports that Pierre-Luc Dubois was absent from practice as well. The nature of his absence is unknown, as he recorded a goal in over 20 minutes of ice time in Game 4 and isn’t listed with any injuries. Still, if his absence from practice is for any reason other than rest or maintenance, it could be a depth blow to the Jets, who utilized 23-year-old depth forward David Gustafsson in Dubois’ place on the first line in line rushes today.

The team could see Nikolaj Ehlers back for Game 5, though. Wiebe reports Ehlers was a full participant in practice Wednesday, skating on a line with deadline additions Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter. Ehlers hasn’t played since game 81 of the regular season on April 11 with an upper-body injury.