Nikolaj Ehlers was a surprise scratch for the Winnipeg Jets for Game 3 of the Western Conference Final on Wednesday night due to a previously undisclosed ailment.
On Friday it was finally revealed that Ehlers missed the game due to an illness (via Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun) and that he should be available for Game 4 in Vegas. There is still no official word on whether or not he will be in the lineup, however. He has not skated in three days. In his absence rookie forward Jack Roslovic was inserted into the lineup while Brandon Tanev took his place on the second line.
Without Ehlers on Wednesday the Jets dropped their second game in a row and struggled to find a way to beat Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury’s play, combined with a lack of secondary scoring, has the Jets facing a 2-1 series deficit.
Even though Ehlers has yet to score a goal this postseason he is still one of the Jets’ most talented players and is coming off of a 29-goal performance in the regular season.
Ehlers does not get as much attention as some of the other Jets’ young stars, but his resume to this point in his career is impressive having already put a pair of 25-goal seasons on the board before his 22nd birthday. Getting him back in the lineup and getting some offense out of him would be a pretty big boost for a Jets offense that has gone cold the past few games.
MORE:
• Conference Finals schedule, TV info
• NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.