The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Thursday that Winnipeg Jets star Mark Scheifele has been suspended four games for charging Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans in Game 1 of their second-round series.
As Scheifele’s hearing was not in person, the maximum suspension he could have been assessed was five games.
The incident in question happened in the final minute of Montreal’s Game 1 victory over Winnipeg. With the Canadiens leading 4-3, Evans chased the puck into the Jets’ zone and curled around the back of the net to score an empty-net goal. As Evans came around to the net-front, he was levelled by Scheifele, who’d skated from the Canadiens’ goal-line, down the length of the ice and left his feet as he collided with Evans.
The young Canadiens centre’s head appeared to hit the ice as he fell, and he remained down and motionless for some time as a scrum ensued between the two teams. Evans was eventually taken off the ice on a stretcher, while Scheifele was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct.
On Thursday, Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme confirmed that Evans suffered a concussion and would miss an undetermined amount of time.
“He’s certainly going to miss time, we’re not sure how much time,” Ducharme said.
Evans is doing better and did not need to be transported to a hospital, but remains under the supervision of two team doctors who attended to him Wednesday night.
