Scheifele, Dubois Absent as Jets Hit the Ice in Vegas

After flying to Nevada on Tuesday, the Jets spent the day in meetings, doing some video work and getting re-acquainted to the Pacific time zone. 

The team hit the ice at 1:00 PM on Wednesday for its first skate since falling behind three-games-to-one in its opening round matchup with the No. 1 seed Golden Knights.

Despite battling back from a multi-goal deficit, the Jets ultimately lost the third game of the series 4-2, which just so happened to be the second of two losses at home this round.

Things did not get any easier on Monday either, as the team - already down Cole Perfetti, Nikolaj Ehlers and Josh Morrissey - lost Mark Scheifele just a few minutes into the game to an upper-body injury.

Unable to provide any specifics on his ailment or projected timeframe post-game, head coach Rick Bowness did announce on Tuesday from the airport that Scheifele would be listed as 'hopeful' for Game 5 on Thursday. But he changed his tune on Wednesday, stating the team's top goal scorer would not be suiting up.

With one additional day off between Games 4 and 5, the schedule may work in the favour of some of the injured Jets forwards.

With Morrissey and Scheifele not possibilities for the next game of the series, that leaves Ehlers and potentially Perfetti as players that may draw in for Game 5.

Another interesting development on Wednesday was that of the absence of presumed top centre, Pierre-Luc Dubois. Expected to carry the bulk of the face-offs and centre ice duties in Schefiele's absence, Dubois was not at the Jets' skate, raising some eyebrows amongst those in attendance.

According to Jeff Hamilton of the Winnipeg Free Press, Dubois, Scheifele and fellow centre Kevin Stenlund all missed the team's skate. Perfetti practiced in a non-contact sweater, while Nikolaj Ehlers was a full participant. 

With three of the team's four centres absent, the lines looked a bit misconstrued. More information should be made available following Thursday's morning skate.