Jets’ Morrissey hurt, out for rest of Vegas series

Winnipeg Jets‘ defenseman Josh Morrissey has been ruled out for the remainder of their first-round NHL playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights after suffering a lower-body injury in Game 3 on Saturday.

Jets’ coach Rick Bowness made the announcement shortly after Winnipeg’s 5-4 loss in double overtime to the Golden Knights, to put them down 2-1 in the series.

Winnipeg had trailed Vegas 4-1 in Game 3 before mounting a furious comeback that forced the matchup into extra time. And the Jets did it while skating primarily with just five defensemen after Morrissey left the game on his first shift.

Winnipeg’s top defenseman clocked just 1:14 of ice time before taking a hit — seemingly to the knee — from Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud. Morrissey immediately appeared to start favoring his right leg and peeled down the Winnipeg tunnel soon after without returning.

Moving on without Morrissey will be difficult now for the Jets. Morrissey is coming off a career regular season where he notched 76 points in 78 games (second among all Winnipeg skaters) while averaging a team-high 24:14 per game.

Bowness did not say whether Morrissey would be able to come back should Winnipeg advance past the Golden Knights.