LAS VEGAS — Following a violent crash into the end boards on his very first shift, a play that would ultimately sideline Mark Scheifele for the rest of Game 4, there was some belief that the Jets No. 1 centre would return for Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday night.
Speaking with reporters from the airport early Tuesday, Jets head coach Rick Bowness said he was hopeful that Scheifele would be able to play through the injury, which is suspected to be to his right arm or shoulder. By the end of practice on Wednesday, that hope was extinguished, as Bowness officially ruled out Scheifele for Thursday’s win-or-go-home affair, the Jets trailing the best-of-seven series 3-1.
“Just his range of motion,” Bowness said. “If that improves every day, we’ll rule him out for tomorrow, but we won’t rule him out for Game 6.”
Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Jets centre Mark Scheifele was injured Sunday during his first shift of Game 4 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
There’s no guarantee there will be a Game 6, of course, not unless the Jets leave Vegas victorious. Winnipeg earned a convincing 5-1 victory to open the series but have since lost three straight, leaving them on the brink of elimination.
With Scheifele out, and the potential for Nikolaj Ehlers to return from an undisclosed upper-body injury to play his first game of the series, the Jets will have a new-look top-six. Pierre-Luc Dubois will centre the top line alongside Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler and Vladislav Namestnikov is in the middle between Ehlers, assuming he’s cleared by the team’s medical staff, and Nino Niederreiter.
Rounding out the forward group is the third line of Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton and Morgan Barron, with the fourth trio consisting of Kevin Stenlund, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Saku Maenalanen.
If Wednesday’s practice was any indication, the defence, which is still without Josh Morrissey, who was ruled out of the series after injuring himself in Game 3, will be the same as the last game. Brenden Dillon is with Neal Pionk, Nate Schmidt is with Dylan DeMelo and Logan Stanley will play with Dylan Samberg.
Bowness isn’t thinking too far ahead, focusing instead, as cliche as it sounds, on one game at a time. As for the hole they currently find themselves in, the Jets coach used the L.A. Kings’ Stanley Cup run in recent years as proof that anything can happen.
“We talked this morning. The 2012 L.A. Kings, they finished in eighth place, they were down 3-0 in a couple series and they found a way to bounce back,” he said. “We’ll find a way and it all starts with one game. Game 6 is not even on our minds right now. We’re not even looking at that. We’re just putting all our focus on doing everything we can to win that game (Thursday).”
HELLEBUYCK NEEDS TO PLAY HERO: There was lots of talk heading into the series surrounded the goalie matchup, with Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck pinned against Vegas’ Laurent Brossoit.
There was a clear edge given to Hellebuyck, and rightfully so, as Hellebuyck is a perennial Vezina Trophy candidate and Brossoit spent time in the AHL this year. It took Brossoit, who backed up Hellebuyck in Winnipeg for three years before signing with Vegas, a slew of injuries in the crease and some stellar play down the stretch to earn his current place between the pipes.
On paper, Hellebuyck is the better of the two, it’s been a different case on the ice. Brossoit is 3-1, with a goals-against average of 2.75 and save percentage of .902. Not exactly eye-popping numbers, but they are better than Hellebuyck, who has just one win in four games, boasting a 3.21 GAA and a .895 save percentage.
It’s difficult to criticize Hellebuyck for his play. Simply put, he’s the team’s best player and they wouldn’t be where they are without him. It’s equally as challenging to ignore his numbers, specifically a save percentage that is sub-.900.
Does Hellebuyck need to be better or the do the players in front of him need to be better? Or is it a combination of the two?
“We’re down 3-1 so I’d say everyone needs to be better, coaches included,” Bowness said. “Our goalie has been very good and their goalie has been very good. The second and third goals (in Game 4), like we talked about after the game, one goes in off the skate — can’t do anything about that — and one was a pretty good tip that changes direction and he can’t do anything about that. We know going into (Thursday) he’s going to give us a real good chance to win that game. That’s the most important thing.”
THE LAST DANCE? With so much uncertainty heading into the off-season, with the potential for a few key players to be traded as they enter the last year of their contracts, Jets forward Kyle Connor was asked if that could provide some motivation for the group.
Scheifele, Hellebuyck and Wheeler are all up for new deals next summer and Dubois, assuming he signs another one-year deal this summer, could also test free agency. The fact the Jets could look very different by next fall was being used as a motivator down the stretch, as Winnipeg fought to clinch a playoff berth.
Is that being used now as added fuel, with the Jets now in do-or-die territory?
“I don’t think it needs to be. We’re all aware of the elephant in the room and what contracts are for next season,” Connor told the Free Press. “We’re so in the here-and-now and present. Obviously, it’s in the back of our minds, once that time comes we’ll deal with it. But right now we got to focus on being really laser-focused on the task at hand and laser-focused on every part and detail of your game. I don’t think we’re allowing to think too far ahead about that.”
Twitter: @jeffkhamilton
Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer
After a slew of injuries playing hockey that included breaks to the wrist, arm, and collar bone; a tear of the medial collateral ligament in both knees; as well as a collapsed lung, Jeff figured it was a good idea to take his interest in sports off the ice and in to the classroom.
