Canadiens Game Day: NHL must act after vicious hit on Habs’ Jake Evans
Parros #Parros
If the NHL Department of Player Safety wants to keep any kind of credibility, the Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Scheifele should not play another game in this North Division final against the Canadiens.
I would suggest Scheifele shouldn’t play another game as long as the Jets remain in the playoffs — at least — but that’s probably putting too much faith in a safety department run by former NHL “enforcer” George Parros.
The violent, vicious hit Scheifele put on Jake Evans after he scored the final goal in the Canadiens’ 5-3 win over the Jets in Game 1 of the second-round playoff series Wednesday night in Winnipeg has no place in hockey. It was a deliberate attempt to injure and Evans appeared to be seriously hurt.
Scheifele started his attack on Evans deep in the Canadiens’ zone. He took more than 15 strides to gain full speed before delivering a head shot to Evans just as the Canadiens forward put the puck into an empty net with 57 seconds left on the clock. Evans appeared to be out cold before falling awkwardly and hitting his head on the ice. Thankfully his helmet stayed on.
It was frightening and Evans wasn’t moving a muscle while lying face down on the ice. He was eventually taken off on a stretcher after being tended to by doctors and other medical staff.
It was ugly and it was sickening. The fact it happened on Evans’s 25th birthday made it seem even worse.
Scheifele was given a five-minute major penalty for charging and a game misconduct.
After the game, Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said Evans had yet to be taken to hospital and was still being evaluated by doctors at the arena.
“I think it’s disgusting,” the Canadiens’ Jesperi Kotkaniemi said about the hit. “A little respect for the other players out there. I’m not saying anything more than that.”
Joel Edmundson was willing to say more.
“It was a dirty hit,” the Canadiens defenceman said. “But the league’s going to take care of it. If 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.”
You’d like to think so. But with Parros and the Department of “Player Safety” you never know.
Sadly, I wouldn’t be totally shocked if Scheifele ends up with a $5,000 fine — the maximum allowed by the league. If I was a betting man — and with the way the NHL often turns a blind eye and even seems to encourage these type of hits — I’d say it will be a one- or maybe two-game suspension.
That would be even more disgusting than the hit on Evans.
Evans was able to give Kotkaniemi a fist pump as he was being taken off the ice.
“Just seeing him moving after a thing like that it’s huge,” Kotkaniemi said. “Giving him the fist pump that’s just great. It’s great to see that and makes my life feel so much easier right now just knowing he’s OK.
“Jake is — you guys don’t even know — he’s a great guy in the room,” Kotkaniemi added. “He’s a super-funny guy, he keeps the energy up in the room. I think he’s one of those guys when you want to win the games you put him out there. When you want to get a goal or make sure the other team’s not scoring.”
Ducharme had Evans on the ice to close out this victory and he did his job perfectly. What happened after he scored the empty-net goal was disgraceful and the NHL should be embarrassed if it doesn’t deal with it properly.
“We haven’t talked to the league,” Ducharme said. “I think it’s pretty obvious. They’re going to look at the incident. We haven’t talked to them, but we’re confident that they’re going to take the decision and make the right decision.”
We can only hope.
Habs on a roll
The Canadiens failed to win more than three games in a row during the regular season.
They have now won four straight in the playoffs.
The Canadiens scored only four goals in the first four games of their first-round playoff series with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
They scored five goals in Game 1 against the Jets with Kotkaniemi, Eric Staal, Nick Suzuki and Brendan Gallagher beating goalie Connor Hellebuyck before Evans scored his empty-netter.
The Canadiens have looked like a totally different team since winning Games 5 and 6 against the Leafs in overtime. They won Game 7 against the Leafs 3-1 in convincing fashion Monday night in Toronto and carried that performance over into Game 1 against the Jets.
“Any time you win a game in overtime you get momentum, you get confidence,” Corey Perry said. “We’ve had four lines, six D playing and then Carey (Price) back there. It’s been 20 guys on the ice for the game that have really bonded together and pushed each other. We demand a lot from each other and that’s definitely helped.
“It’s tough,” Perry added about what happened to Evans at the end of the game. “It was a huge win for us. It was definitely emotional out there at the end. We’re going to think about him, we’re going to talk to him and see how he’s doing and all that for the rest of the night. It’s tough when you see that.”
Perry said he was most proud about the way the Canadiens started the game, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Kotkaniemi and Staal in the first 5:10 of the first period.
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“It’s not easy coming off a Game 7,” Perry said. “The high, getting ready for Game 1 of a new series, a new opponent and only two days later. I thought the way we came out in that first 10, 15 minutes, the way we battled, the way we played. Got a couple of early goals and kind of set the tone for us.”
Kotkaniemi scores again
After being made a healthy scratch for Game 1 against Toronto, Kotkaniemi now has four goals in seven games — matching the four goals he scored in 10 postseason games last year.
“Who would have thought a little rest would be good for a 20-year-old guy,” Kotkaniemi said dryly. “But it’s fun to be out there and do my best.”
Kotkaniemi only scored five goals in 56 regular-season games this year.
When asked if he could explain his playoff success, Kotkaniemi said: “I just like the big games. Every game matters, so try to do your best. When you’re trying hard enough you once in a while get the puck in the net.”
Suzuki’s goal was his third of the playoffs, while Cole Caufield picked up his second assist of the postseason after being a healthy scratch for the first two games against Toronto.
“Those three guys … they’ve come a long way and you can see their game growing,” Perry said. “Just game-by-game and shift-by-shift. You just keep talking to them, keep telling them make the simple plays. Limit our turnovers and they’re going to get their chances. They’re world-class players. They’re young and skilled and we’re happy to have them on this side.”
Praise for Perry
Ducharme emphasizes the importance of making smart decisions with the puck and Joel Armia has been making a lot of them since being put on the fourth line with veterans Perry and Staal.
“I thought they were really good tonight,” Ducharme said. “Army is so good at protecting the puck. He’s got great skills. He plays a heavy game and he’s playing with two guys that are doing the same thing right now. I thought they gave the Jets a hard time with their O-zone shifts and every shift.”
Playing with two veterans on his line — not to mention the conversations they can have together on the bench — seems to really be helping Armia.
Kotkaniemi called it a “huge honour” to be around a guy like Perry.
“I think we were down 3-1 against Toronto, we had a little meeting (before Game 5) and he stepped up and he talked a little bit about how often you get chances to be in the playoffs and how rare is that,” Kotkaniemi said. “Just great to hear all the stories he has. Just a great guy on and off the ice. He’s a great add for our team.”
Steady Eddie
Edmundson and his partner Jeff Petry had a solid game on defence.
They both picked up two assists and were plus-2, while Edmundson had five shots on goal.
Edmundson has been a steady performer for the Canadiens all year, finishing with a team-best plus-28 during the regular season, which ranked fifth in the NHL in plus/minus.
“I got to give a lot of credit to my D partner,” Edmundson said when asked about his consistent play. “Petey’s been awesome this year. He’s been great to work with and he makes my life a lot easier. So got to give a lot of credit to him. Just feeling good. I was healthy all year. Knock on wood that continues and just got to keep it rolling.”
Edmundson is from Brandon, Man., so this series against the Jets is something special.
“Lots of my family members are all Jets fans until I come to town,” he said. “Lots of my friends it’s the same thing. All of Manitoba, it’s a huge hockey spot, so when the Jets came back it was obviously a huge deal. To be able to play against them and see my family once in a while it’s kind of nice. But it’s always nice to get a win against them.”
Some stats
The Canadiens outshot Winnipeg 33-30 and won 52 per cent of the faceoffs, but were outhit 42-24 by the Jets. The Canadiens went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Jets went 0-for-3.
Ben Chiarot led the Canadiens in ice time with 26:38, followed by Petry with 25:49, Edmundson with 24:44 and Shea Weber with 24:36. Brett Kulak had 9:54 of ice time and Erik Gustafsson only played 6:41 after making a costly mistake on the power play that led to the Jets’ first goal while short-handed.
Evans led the forwards with 17:55 of ice time, followed by Phillip Danault with 17:42 and Armia with 16:22. Staal, who had two assists in the Game 7 win over the Leafs, had a goal and an assist in Game 1 vs. the Jets.
Weber and Edmundson tied for the team lead with five shots each, while Kulak had four. Weber and Chiarot tied for the team lead in hits with three each.
Suzuki went 9-6 on faceoffs (60 per cent), Staal went 5-5 (50 per cent), Danault went 7-9 (44 per cent) and Kotkaniemi went 1-2 (33 per cent).
The French Connection
With Jonathan Drouin still absent from the Canadiens for personal reasons and not expected back during the playoffs, Danault is the only French-Quebecer on the team.
The Jets have two in Mathieu Perreault and Pierre-Luc Dubois. The Jets’ Paul Stastny was born in Quebec when his father, Peter, played for the Nordiques.
“As a kid growing up in Quebec, this is kind of almost a dream to have a chance to play against the Canadiens in the playoffs,” Perreault, who is from Drummondville, said after the Jets’ morning skate Wednesday. “So super-excited. I know all family and friends are going to be watching. Maybe some of them will be cheering against me for this one specific playoff series. So it’s going to be fun.”
Habs honour frontline heroes
The Canadiens announced Wednesday that they will have a “Heroes Section” for each future playoff game at the Bell Centre with a chance to win free tickets through a draw.
Fans can nominate a deserving frontline hero of their choice — a doctor, first responder, teacher, grocery-store employee or any other essential-service worker — by going to canadiens.com/IGAheroes and completing a form by noon on Friday. All eligible submissions will be entered into a draw that could see the nominee win tickets to be among the select 2,500 fans allowed into the Bell Centre for each playoff game. There will be 100 people each game in the “Heroes Section.”
All those winning tickets to the “Heroes Section” will also receive an official Canadiens jersey and be honoured live during the TVA Sports broadcast that night.
Related The schedule
Here’s the rest of the schedule for the North Division final between the Canadiens and Jets:
Game 2: Friday, June 4: at Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, June 6: at Montreal, 6 p.m.
Game 4: Monday, June 7: at Montreal, 8 p.m.
x-Game 5: Wednesday, June 9: at Winnipeg, TBD
x-Game 6: Friday, June 11: at Montreal, TBD
x-Game 7: Sunday, June 13: at Winnipeg, TBD
x-if necessary
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