Winnipeg Jets’ top-line centre Mark Scheifele was knocked out of Game 5 by a questionable hit by St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn. Needless to say, Jets’ head coach Scott Arniel was less than impressed, both in game and postgame.
Whether the big first-period hit was “dirty” is up for debate, but it was definitely borderline. Schenn caught air after delivering the check — “leaving your feet,” in hockey parlance, has long been considered one of the hallmarks of an over-the-line play — and there’s no doubt he caught Scheifele in a vulnerable, defenseless position. Schenn was called for inference on the play, because the puck had gone into the corner. One could make the case he could have also been called for charging.
Arniel was furious after the teams came out for the second, chewing out the officiating crew of Jake Brenk and Kelly Sutherland at the benches. He was calmer, but not in a better mood, postgame despite his team’s 5-3 victory to take a 3-2 series lead.
Arniel Incensed With Schenn “Blindsiding” Scheifele, No Review
“There’s some things that have been going on in this series, and that was a repeat of what we’ve seen before,” Arniel said of the hit. “A player leaving his feet, and then hitting a player in a very unprotected spot, hitting him in the sense of almost blindsiding him.”
Arniel was incensed that Brenk and Sutherland didn’t review the hit to see if it was worthy of more than a minor.
“Not happy how the call was made. Two-minute minor. Not even looking at it is what I was upset about it,” he said. “And it is something we have talked to the league about for five games.”
Arniel pushed back on Blues’ head coach Jim Montgomery’s assertion that Scheifele wasn’t injured on Schenn’s hit but on one by Radek Faksa later in the period.
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“Well, I didn’t know Monty got his medical degree. Trying to say how our player got hurt.” Arniel said. “He’s way off base. He should not make that comment.”
The two men are close friends dating back almost 30 years, when Montgomery played for the Manitoba Moose and Arniel was an assistant coach. It’s safe to say their history has been set aside for now.
Jets Will Need Depth to Step Up Sans Scheifele
Arniel didn’t provide an update on Scheifele’s injury or whether he’ll be available for Game 6 Friday in St. Louis. If he can’t play, he will certainly be sorely missed — not only is he second on the team in points this playoffs (two goals and four assists for six points), but is also the Jets’ all-time postseason points leader.
If the Jets want to capture that fourth win to clinch their first series victory since 2021, their depth will have to step up as they did after Scheifele was done for the night.
In the second and third, the versatile Vladislav Namestnikov took Scheifele’s first-line centre spot alongside Gabriel Vilardi and Kyle Connor and did well there, assisting Dylan DeMelo’s go-ahead second-period goal and then scoring late in the period on the rush to double the Jets’ lead. The tally was Namestnikov’s first in 20 games dating back to the regular season.
“It was unbelieve. We certainly needed it big time,” Arniel said. “That’s been our group. Our group has had to step up all year long with injuries. That was huge for us (for Namestnikov) to go into that role, not only playing on that line with Gabe and KC but he’s also running into (Robert) Thomas’ line close to every shift. He’s a good pro and whatever’s been thrown at him, he takes on that challenge and does a fantastic job.”
“When things don’t go your way without Scheif, people have to step up,” Namestnikov said. “So I think as a team we stepped up today and got the win… it’s hard losing your best player but at the same time we’ve dealt with this all year with injuries. It’s the next-man mentality. Like I’ve said, we’ve been doing it all year and guys stepped up today.”
Seeing one of their stars knocked out should also provide the Jets even more motivation to put the series to bed.