The Winnipeg Jets lost Kyle Connor to injury following a dirty hit by Ryan Strome.
Kyle Connor has left Winnipeg's Sunday evening game in Anaheim with a lower-body injury.
The Jets announced Connor would not return after taking a ridiculously dirty knee-on-knee hit from the Ducks' Ryan Strome in the opening minute of the second period.
“It’s a knee on knee; he sticks his knee out," head coach Rick Bowness said postgame. "You hope that’s suspendible. Knee on knee. Listen, there’s no other way of looking at it. You hope it’s suspendable. But the referees made the right call. Five-minute major and a game misconduct and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
Connor - who turned 27 on Sunday - fell immediately to the ice and remained still as linemate Mark Scheifele jumped to his aid, dropping the mitts with Strome in the Jets' attack zone.
“That’s the leader Mark is," Bowness continued. "That’s why he didn’t hesitate to jump in. He saw what happened, he saw it was a dirty hit and he addressed it right away. So, good on Mark.”
Connor was unable to even get up off the ice, with Nikolaj Ehlers and Josh Morrissey helping him up and down the hallway to the Jets' dressing room.
With Connor gone and Scheifele in the box for five minutes, the Jets were unable to score on the ensuring power play, as the game remained tied midway into the second period.
“I do feel for him," formerly injured forward Gabe Vilardi said. "Like, it was his knee, obviously. It’s tough. It’s never easy coming back from injury. People that don’t play, don’t really realize it. You miss time and the guys are going. They’re in the flow of the season and you’re just kind of coming in. It’s like you’re back in training camp. It sucks to see him go down. And that was a… He got the five-minute penalty, but hopefully it’s nothing too serious. I haven’t seen or heard anything yet.”
Currently two goals off the league lead with 17 goals on the season, Winnipeg's top offensive player was immediately ruled out of the game. But the bigger storyline will be how much time Connor will miss.
Winnipeg ended up coming back from a 2-0 deficit to win the game 4-2 on Sunday.