Jets' Mark Scheifele Suspended 4 Games for Hit on Canadiens' Jake Evans

Unless the Winnipeg Jets force a Game 6, Mark Scheifele won't see the ice again this season.

The forward was suspended four games for charging Montreal forward Jake Evans in Game 1 on Wednesday, the league announced. Evans, who was taken down by Scheifele after scoring an empty-net goal, had to be stretchered off in the final minute of play. 

The Canadiens ended up winning 5-3 on Wednesday. 

Schiefele was tabbed with a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the hit. 

“It’s brutal," Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher, who scored the eventual winner in Wednesday's game, told reporters. "It didn’t need to happen. It’s the wrong play. He knows better."

Other Montreal skaters also chimed in. Jesperi Kotkaniemi called the play "disgusting" and said it highlighted a lack of respect, while defenseman Joel Edmundson vowed that if Schiefele returned during the series, the team would "make his life miserable." 

The Jets' alternate captain isn't the only one who will miss time as a result of the play. Evans is out indefinitely with a concussion, though the 25-year-old forward wasn't transported to the hospital after the hit and was recovering under the watch of team doctors, head coach Dominique Ducharme told reporters Thursday. 

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday in Winnipeg.