Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans was taken off the ice on a stretcher after taking a massive hit from Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele during Game 1 of their second-round playoff series on Wednesday night.
The incident happened with under a minute remaining in the third period, when Evans scored an empty-net goal to put Montreal up 5-3 (that would serve as the final score). Evans chased down the puck and went with a wrap-around shot for the empty-netter, right before taking a huge hit from Scheifele, who came skating in at full speed.
Evans was down for several minutes before being stretchered off. While there are not yet details about any injuries suffered, he’s at least doing better according to Montreal head coach Dominique Ducharme, who called the hit “useless.”
Scheifele was ejected, and it’s easy to see a potential suspension coming (and perhaps a lengthy one at that). And if he’s allowed to return to the series, Montreal defenseman Joel Edmundson said that the Canadiens are “going to make his life miserable.”
Game 2 is Friday night in Winnipeg.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.