The Jets’ problem now: How to make the Stanley Cup playoffs without one of their best offensive players. At his best, Byfuglien is an all-star talent, a linebacker on skates who provides offense from the blue line. The Jets have five games remaining.

MORE: Final games in West race | East’s playoff push | Playoff scenarios

In examining fallout from Byfuglien’s action and the NHL’s action, USA Today’s Kevin Allen said Byfuglien deserved to be suspended. Allen added this:

Then came the cross-check. “Violent, deliberate, could have broken his neck,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said of Byfuglien’s act.

Here’s Cam Cole in The Ottawa Citizen:

And now, Byfuglien is gone.

But he did what he did, and there is no defending it.

While NHL disciplinarians weighed Byfuglien’s fate, the Jets practiced Thursday. Their tenuous hold on a playoff berth was in danger. They were two points ahead of the Kings for the final Western Conference slot when the playoffs begin April 15. The Kings had a game in hand.

Challenge accepted. The Jets, according to The Winnipeg Sun, will keep calm and move on. Their attitude is helped by this helpful number: 6-3. That was the Jets’ record during a recent spell in which Byfuglien was injured.

“It does help,” coach Paul Maurice said Thursday. “Wish we didn’t have to the last time, but the fact it’s recent memory, that we did have success without Dustin in our lineup, that’s a positive.”

Captain Andrew Ladd said the Jets were ready for whatever awaits. The cross-check Byfuglien laid on Miller, he said, “doesn’t look good on video.”

“It’s easy to slow it down after the fact," Ladd said, “but in the course of a game things happen quick and I know he didn’t mean to get him in the neck. He was probably trying to get him in the back and hit the wrong spot.”

Byfuglien had a morning conference call with the NHL Department of Player Safety. He wasn’t on the ice with the Jets — Maurice called it a “maintenance day.”

This isn’t Byfuglien’s first rodeo, and his undisciplined play could hurt the Jets in the playoffs. If they get there — with or without Byfuglien, there is no room for error.

For the immediate future, Jay Harrison will take Byfuglien’s place among the Jets’ six defensemen. He was a healthy scratch the past three games after Byfuglien returned from injury. He is eager for the opportunity.

“These are the games that you play your whole career for,” Harrison told The Sun. “I’m staying ready. I’m staying sharp. Whenever the opportunity comes, I look to come in there and make a seamless transition and give everything I got to help the team win.”

Here’s the tradeoff: In 68 games, Byfuglien has 18 goals and 27 assists, and is plus-5. The Jets acquired Harrison in December. In 50 games split between the Jets and Hurricanes, he has two goals and three assists, and is plus-1.