The Winnipeg Jets will be without Nikolaj Ehlers for the third-straight playoff game as he remains out with an upper-body injury suffered in Game 81 against Minnesota.
Jets head coach Rick Bowness spoke before puck drop at Canada Life Centre, clarifying his lineup for the game against the No. 1 seed Vegas Golden Knights.
"He's not playing," Bowness said. "He's not going to be playing until the doctors give him clearance. He will not play until that happens. And that hasn't happened. We'll see how he feels tomorrow."
Hit with a hypothetical shortly after, Bowness stuck to the message provided by the team's medical staff that Ehlers still would not be suiting up for Winnipeg if Saturday's game was the seventh of a series.
Ehlers, who took an illegal check in the open-ice on a blatant interference play by Minnesota's Ryan Hartman back on April 11, has been slowly working his way back to game shape. Hartman, on the other hand, received a one-game ban and was back in time for Minnesota's playoff opener. In fact, he actually scored the double overtime winner in Game 1 for the Wild over the Dallas Stars.
With a number of guys "banged up", the Jets will dress a few extras as the teams hit the ice for warmups prior to the 3:00 PM central puck drop in downtown Winnipeg.
As for his message to his players in advance of the first Winnipeg Whiteout since 2019, it was simple, for Bowness:
"Relax, breathe, enjoy it."
Expected lines are as follows:
Connor - Dubois - Scheifele
Niederreiter - Namestnikov - Wheeler
Barron - Lowry - Appleton
Gustafsson - Stenlund - Maenalanen
Morrissey - DeMelo
Dillon - Pionk
Samberg - Schmidt
Hellebuyck
Healthy scratches: Perfetti, Ehlers, Johnson-Fjallby, Kuhlman, Stanley, Capobianco