The Winnipeg Jets will be without center Mark Scheifele and defenseman Dylan DeMelo when they host the Montreal Canadiens in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Second Round at Bell MTS Place on Friday.
Scheifele will serve the first game of a four-game suspension issued by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Thursday. Scheifele was disciplined for charging Montreal's Jake Evans at 19:03 of the third period in Game 1, won 5-3 by the Canadiens.
DeMelo sustained an undisclosed injury on his first shift in Game 1 and could be out at least a week, Jets coach Paul Maurice said. Defenseman Jordie Benn is likely to take DeMelo's place.
Paul Stastny, who missed Game 1 with an undisclosed injury, will be a game-time decision, Maurice said. The center was on the ice for the morning skate Friday.
"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," Maurice said. "So 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. We weren't great in a lot of areas [in Game 1] so I expect we're going to play a whole heck of a lot better here tonight."
Evans has a concussion and will miss Game 2 for the Canadiens. Forward Artturi Lehkonen will take his place in the lineup.
Teams that take a 2-0 lead on the road are 82-20 (80.4 percent) winning a best-of-7 playoff series, including 2-0 this season.
Here are 3 keys for Game 2: