JETS AWAIT WORD ON LAINE INJURY

The Winnipeg Jets overcame their latest COVID scare and returned to practice on Sunday. Less than half an hour in, though, another alarm bell started clanging when Game 1 star Patrik Laine left with an apparent injury. Laine looked to be in pain as he skated to head coach Paul Maurice, clutching the area above his left hip just before he left the ice. Two more players were missing on Sunday: defenceman Tucker Poolman and winger Nik Ehlers. Poolman was placed on the team’s Covid-alert list a day earlier, forcing the cancellation of Saturday’s practice. Ehlers had been on that same list Wednesday and part of Thursday, missing practices while awaiting test results, then getting cleared in time to play Thursday’s season-opener against Calgary. Laine scored twice, including the overtime winner, as the Jets beat last season’s playoff nemesis, 4-3. Winnipeg left for Toronto on Sunday, beginning a stretch of five games in seven days starting with the Maple Leafs on Monday night.