Remember When … Jake Evans’s first playoff goal turned ugly

Andrea Rowe revisits Game 1 of the 2021 second-round playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets. In the final minute of Montreal's eventual 5-3 victory on June 2, 2021, Canadiens forward Jake Evans scored his first career playoff goal into an empty net on his 25th birthday, only to be violently checked by Jets center Mark Scheifele at the goal line.

Evans lay on the ice for several minutes before being stretchered off with a concussion. Scheifele received a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct, sparking immediate controversy across the NHL. While Montreal interim coach Dominique Ducharme and teammates condemned the hit as vicious and dirty, Jets coach Paul Maurice argued the collision was clean.