The Winnipeg Jets announced during Game 1 of Round 2 against the Montreal Canadiens, that Dylan DeMelo will not return to the game due to a lower-body injury.
Dylan DeMelo will not return to tonight’s game. Lower body injury. That’s a bad turn.
— Murat Ates (@WPGMurat) June 2, 2021
Dylan DeMelo Leaves Game 1 With Lower Body Injury
He waited eight days to play a game again and it took 29 seconds before DeMelo’s night was over. On the first shift of the game, DeMelo got tangled up with Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher. It appears DeMelo’s leg got twisted up and as a result, he left the game. It is unclear if it is a knee or a high ankle. But it is a big blow to the Jets. Midway through the game, the Jets announced that DeMelo would not return to the game. This is a major loss to the Jets defence, which was already average at best. DeMelo was part of the top pair in Winnipeg. And did a fabulous of shutting down Edmonton’s dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the first round. The Jets will be rolling with five defencemen for the rest of the game.
Since coming over to Winnipeg in February of 2020, DeMelo has been excellent for Winnipeg. Instead of going to free agency, DeMelo opted to stay in Winnipeg signing a four-year, $12 million contract in October of 2020. When he signed he felt he had unfinished business in Winnipeg. In 52 games this season with the Jets, DeMelo recorded nine points all of them assists. In 18 career playoff games, he has one assist. DeMelo is known for shutting down players and not recording points.
Going Forward
Again it can’t be understated how much the DeMelo injury hurts the Jets. He played top pair minutes. The Jets will have difficulty replacing him on their blue line. DeMelo eats so many minutes and is a shutdown defenceman alongside Josh Morrissey. Instead of committing to four defensemen, the Jets are cycling through five defencemen. Let’s see how that plays out the rest of Game 1 as the Jets look rusty. The Jets could be in trouble even more than they already were considering they did not make a big upgrade at defence at the deadline.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
