WINNIPEG 鈥� What should have been a Montreal celebration to cap a 5-3 playoff win over the Winnipeg Jets Wednesday ended with Canadiens forward Jake Evans being carried off the ice on a stretcher after a crushing hit by Mark Scheifele.
And then came the worry and the anger.
鈥淵eah, it was a dirty hit but the league's going to take care of it,鈥� said Canadiens defenceman Joel Edmundson. 鈥淚f he gets back in the series, we're going to make his life miserable, but I think the league's going to do a good job with that.鈥�
Scheifele was assessed a major for charging and a game misconduct.
Evans, who was celebrating his 25th birthday Wednesday, had just come around the empty net and scored when Scheifele ran into him. Evans flew to the ice and banged his head with 57 seconds left on the clock.
Montreal interim head coach Dominique Ducharme, who called the hit 鈥渧icious鈥� and 鈥渦seless,鈥� said Evans wasn't taken to the hospital at the time of post-game media availability.
鈥淣o, he鈥檚 still here, he鈥檚 being evaluated,鈥� Ducharme said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 doing better, but before I came here he was still being evaluated.鈥�
In 2018 during a Canadiens' rookie showdown game, Evans was hit and taken off the ice on a stretcher to hospital and then put in concussion protocol.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Eric Staal scored early in the first period to set the stage for the Canadiens' victory in Game 1 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
Montreal also got a goals from Nick Suzuki and Brendan Gallagher. Edmundson and Jeff Petry each added a pair of assists. Carey Price made 27 saves.
Adam Lowry, Derek Forbort and Kyle Connor, with 1:42 left in the third, scored for Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 shots.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series goes Friday in Winnipeg.
Kotkaniemi described the hit on Evans as 鈥渄isgusting.鈥�
鈥淣o respect for the other players out there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not saying anything more than that.鈥�
Kotkaniemi did bump fists with Evans as he was being wheeled off the ice.
鈥淛ust seeing him moving after a thing like that, it鈥檚 huge,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ven getting the fist bump, you know, it鈥檚 great to see that. I鈥檓 feeling much easier now just knowing he鈥檚 OK.鈥�
Jets head coach Paul Maurice acknowledged it was a big hit by Scheifele.
鈥淲ell, hopefully the young man is going to be all right,鈥� Maurice said of Evans. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such a highly unusual play because you鈥檙e backchecking back to kill and empty-net play, you鈥檙e coming full speed.
鈥淲hen Mark stopped skating he kept his arms in. It鈥檚 a heavy, heavy hit. There鈥檚 no doubt about that. I鈥檓 sure the league will have its opinion.鈥�
Captain Blake Wheeler expressed concern about Evans.
鈥淛ust hope he's OK,鈥� Wheeler said. 鈥淚 mean, that's it. Really, that's all. That's the concern. It's never good to see a guy on the ice for that amount of time and the stretcher out is scary.鈥�
Three of Montreal's goals were scored in the first period, beginning with Kotkaniemi at 3:30 and Staal at 5:10.
The players had more than canned crowd noise to hear inside Bell MTS Place for the first time this season.
The Manitoba government is allowing 500 fully vaccinated health-care workers to attend this week's two playoff games. More than 6,000 workers entered their names in a lottery to win a ticket.
"Utter shock,鈥� advanced care paramedic Mike McMillan said of getting one of the coveted tickets. 鈥淚t was pretty breathtaking. It's a beautiful gesture for the past 16 months.鈥�
Manitoba is under code red restrictions that forbid public gatherings, but the health orders were changed for the games. Immediate family of Jets' players, coaches and staff could also watch the game inside the rink.
鈥淚t just felt like I could just go back to a little bit of normalcy,鈥� said Terri Jeanson, a laboratory technologist in clinical research. 鈥淚 know there's some people that are upset about it, but it definitely makes it worth what we do.鈥�
The Canadiens were the first NHL team in Canada to have a crowd this year, allowing 2,500 fans to attend Game 6 against the Toronto Maple Leafs last Saturday after Quebec loosened restrictions.
The Leafs followed up by covering the cost for 550 fully vaccinated health-care workers to attend Game 7 against the Canadiens on Monday after being given the green light by Ontario.
The Winnipeg fans, who were given white shirts and hand towels, didn't have a chance to wave the towels in joy early in the first period.
Kotkaniemi redirected a point shot by Petry for his fourth goal of the playoffs. Staal quickly made it 2-0 with his first goal.
Winnipeg lost a player before and during the game.
Veteran Winnipeg centre Paul Statsny (undisclosed) didn't play. Defenceman Dylan DeMelo left the game early in the first and didn't return because of a lower-body injury.
Fans finally got a chance to jump out of their spaced-apart seats when Lowry scored shorthanded after defenceman Erik Gustafsson turned over the puck near the blue line. Lowry raced toward the net and slipped a backhand shot under Price's pad at 11:52.
Suzuki reinstated the two-goal lead at 17:14 during a 2-on-1 rush with Edmundson.
Winnipeg outshot the visitors 11-9 in the scoreless second period, and 22-21 up to that point.
Forbort closed the gap to 3-2 at 9:22 of the third, but Gallagher potted a rebound after a Shea Weber breakaway on the power play at 11:04.
Before the game, hockey analysts wondered if the Jets would have to shake off some rust.
It was Winnipeg's first game since May 24, when it swept the Edmonton Oilers in the North Division first round. Montreal erased a 3-1 series deficit and eliminated the Maple Leafs on Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2021.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
