Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness confirms Nikolaj Ehlers will not play in game 3

The biggest question mark for the Jets heading into game 3 in Winnipeg was the availability of Nikolaj Ehlers. This has been a very unusual situation with the dynamic winger declaring himself “good-to-go” ahead of game 1 while his head coach was steadfast in saying he remained “day-to-day”.

Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)

Ehlers is dealing with the consequences of a Ryan Hartman hit in the second last game of the season back on April 11th which knocked him from the game and out of the Jets lineup.

The media availability with Rick Bowness was set to get underway at 1:30 PM ahead of the 3 PM puck drop for game 3. However, prior to that analyst John Shannon reported that Nikolaj Ehlers has not been medically cleared to play in game 3.

Which brings us to the media availability Rick Bowness wherein he confirmed the above report saying Ehlers has not been cleared to play. He indicated that Ehlers wants to play, that he thinks he can play but they won’t put him on the ice until that happens.

He said Ehlers will skate with the team tomorrow at practice.

Tough news for both the player and the team.