Jets hopeful injured Scheifele will play Game 5

Winnipeg Jets star forward Mark Scheifele, who suffered an upper-body injury in the team’s loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday night, is day-to-day and could suit up for Game 5 with the Jets facing elimination.

Scheifele left in the first period of Game 4 because of the injury. The Jets lost 4-2 to fall behind 3-1 in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

“I just talked to Mark and he is feeling better than he did [Monday] night,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness told reporters Tuesday. “So, he’s definitely [considered] day-to-day. Let’s put him in the hopeful category for Thursday.”

The Jets have the benefit of getting two days off between Games 4 and 5 as the series shifts from Winnipeg back to Las Vegas.

Scheifele, 30, led the Jets in the regular season with a career-high 42 goals plus 26 assists in 81 games. He had one goal in the series against Vegas before the injury.

In 12 NHL seasons, all spent with Winnipeg, Scheifele has tallied 645 career points (272 goals, 373 assists) in 723 games.

The Jets are also without All-Star defenseman Josh Morrissey and forward Nikolaj Ehlers because of injuries. Morrissey has been ruled out for the series because of a lower-body injury.