GAMEDAY: Jets vs Canadiens (Game 2)

WINNIPEG -Tonight, the Winnipeg Jets will try and pull even in their best-of-seven second round series against the Montreal Canadiens, and they'll be trying to do so without a big part of their line-up.
Centre Mark Scheifele will miss the first game of his four-game suspension tonight, a penalty that was handed down on Thursday.
"Before we can talk about anything, the No. 1 thing is Jake Evans' health," said Scheifele. "I reached out to a couple of their guys and I hear he's doing well. He didn't have to go to the hospital, which is good news. First and foremost is his health and how he's doing. I pray for a quick and speedy recovery for him, and that he's OK."
Scheifele won't be the only player from Game 1 unavailable for Winnipeg tonight.
Defenceman Dylan DeMelo, who left the game 29 seconds in to his first shift with a lower-body injury, also won't play.

"I think he's beyond day-to-day, like we're going to be talking about a week, anyway," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. "It's a soft-tissue injury so those are harder to define when he's going to be available, so I don't have an answer to that."
In a bit of good news, there is a chance that Paul Stastny returns to the Jets line-up after missing Game 1 with an undisclosed injury.
Stastny took part in Friday's optional skate at Bell MTS Place, but Maurice won't make the final decision on the veteran forward's status until closer to game-time.
"Whether Paul Stastny's in the lineup or not, we're going to put four really good centermen on the ice and they're key pieces to our lineup," said Maurice. "We've been fortunate that we've added depth down the middle and it's certainly going to get tested when you have one or two really important guys out of your lineup. And then a more mature group. We're a little older here, we're a little more grizzled, we've seen more things so I'm expecting a really good A game."
Winnipeg Jets : Ground Control
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Injuries are nothing new for the Jets, and performing without key players is also something they have in the memory bank.
When Scheifele was injured - along with Patrik Laine and Mason Appleton - in Game 1 of the Qualifying Round series against the Calgary Flames in August, the Jets responded by winning Game 2.
They also only need to look back to the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs to find victories without Pierre-Luc Dubois in Game 1, and Nikolaj Ehlers in Game 1 and 2.
"We have guys up and down the lineup that can play centre," said Andrew Copp. "I've kind of been getting used to flipping back and forth between centre and wing over the course of the last few years.
"We've dealt with a lot of injuries, maybe not so much this year, but over the course of my career here. We've handled guys going out pretty well and we've tried to rally around adversity a little bit. One guy goes out, the next man goes up and we have to fill in for Mark as best as possible."
Morning skate gave no indication of who would come into the line-up as part of a shuffle of the forward lines.
Dominic Toninato played 5:33 in his third appearance of the postseason for the Jets in Game 1. He was on the ice for Friday's morning skate and left the surface at the same time as Kristian Vesalainen - who made his postseason debut in Game 1 against the Oilers - and Jansen Harkins, who scored his first postseason goal in the Qualifying Round series against the Calgary Flames.
As for DeMelo's replacement on the blue line, Jordie Benn practiced on Thursday but wasn't on the ice for the morning skate.
Benn played 171 regular season games in a Canadiens jersey from 2017-2019. He played in eight regular season games with the Jets this season after coming over at the trade deadline, recording one assist.
He could be the likely replacement for DeMelo, since Ville Heinola stayed on the ice for extra work this morning.
No matter how the line-up decisions shake out, Maurice doesn't expect a carry over from Game 1 into tonight's Game 2 against Montreal.
"There's too much on the line here for both teams to run around," said Maurice. "I mean, will it be physical? Sure. But within - nobody's taking penalties to exact revenge. I think you're probably going to see a really, really cleanly played game that's played real fast."
Puck drop is set for 6:30 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Winnipeg Jets will look to even up their best-of-seven series with the Montreal Canadiens tonight in Game 2.
The Jets lost 5-3 to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of their best-of-seven second round 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs series. The loss also ended the Jets franchise record four-game playoff winning streak.
Kyle Connor has scored in consecutive games for the Jets, becoming the first Jets player in this year's playoffs to do so. Connor also had goals in consecutive games in 2019 when he scored in Game 3 and 4 against the St. Louis Blues.
As a team, the Jets are second in the playoffs with a 53.5% face-off winning percentage. Winnipeg was 13th in the regular season in face-offs at 50.5%. Adam Lowry is leading the Jets and is seventh in the NHL during the playoffs with a 57.1% winning percentage.
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