JETS STILL WAITING ON LAINE’S RETURN
Forward still feeling effects of blocking shot in 3-0 win over the Capitals last Thursday
Patrik Laine’s status for Tuesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres is up in the air.
The 21-year-old sniper hasn’t been seen on the ice since he blocked a shot with his left foot 23 seconds into a 3-0 shutout win against the Washington Capitals last Thursday.
Subsequent tests revealed that Laine hadn’t broken anything, a big relief to the injury-plagued Jets, but he had sustained a bruise and quite a bit of swelling.
After Laine didn’t make it out for Monday’s practice at Bell MTS Place, coach Paul Maurice said the Finn will likely take the morning skate ahead of Tuesday’s game and go from there.
“Nothing’s changed, it’s just a bruise and the swelling has to come down,” Maurice said.
As was the case in Edmonton, Jack Roslovic took Laine’s spot on the power play.
The other four who make up the top unit — Blake Wheeler, Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Neal Pionk — had a bit of a huddle at the end of practice before running through the man-advantage sans penalty killers to get Roslovic more acclimated to his spot in the slot.
“Where they stand on the ice really does matter,” Maurice said. “It’s not as free-flowing. With Jack, two feet in a different spot, Mark is in a different position to take a puck. How they move the puck around, it’s new for Jack but they are just walking him through where they need him.”
THE BIG INJURY UPDATE
Winnipeg’s fifth forward line on the ice on Monday could be labelled The Mustard Line.
The meaning is kind of twofold.
The obvious giveaway is the yellow jerseys Adam Lowry, Mathieu Perreault and, to everyone’s surprise, Mark Letestu were wearing, a bright indication not to touch those wearing them as they continue to recover from their respective injuries.
The other part of it is that Letestu was seen earlier this year sucking back a few packs of mustard on the bench to ward off cramping during games. We’d later find out that Adam Lowry devours the stuff by the buckets, as Maurice joked. And while Perreault’s mustard-eating tendencies aren’t publicly known, he is French and French’s is a popular brand of mustard, so the math works.
Anyway, Lowry and Perreault were skating pretty good as both nurse upper-body injuries back to health. They aren’t expected to return on Tuesday as both will need to shed their non-contact jerseys first. But with two practice days scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday before their game on Friday, one or both of their statuses could change before the end of the week.
Lowry has been out since
Jan. 19, a span of 18 games he’s spent on the shelf. Perreault, meanwhile, has missed 15 games dating back to Jan. 31.
Letestu’s streak is at 60 games and that number will continue to rise as he recovers from a heart condition.
“He’s at Day 1,” Maurice said of Letestu’s on-ice recovery. “When he was shut down, it was completely shut down. The heart rate couldn’t get over just slightly above active for the longest period of time. so our 30-minute skate would have been all the man could handle. He’s at Stage 1.”
DEMELO HAPPY FOR RYAN
Dylan Demelo’s face lit up when he was asked about Bobby Ryan.
The two had been teammates ever since Demelo arrived in Ottawa nearly two years ago from San Jose, but Ryan had been away from the team for quite a while.
The 32-year-old former firstround pick entered the player assistance program in November and returned to the Senators just last week. In his first game back at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ryan notched a hat trick and even got into a scrap in an emotional homecoming.
Though he was traded before Ryan’s return, Demelo’s joy for his former teammate hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
“I was teasing him that he couldn’t get the assist. I texted him right after I saw it,” Demelo said after Monday’s practice.
“Just so happy for him. He’s honestly a really good person, a really good human being. He’s been through a lot of tough struggles here, not just him but his family. Just to see him get a hat trick in his first home game (back), he’s beloved in Ottawa. They really do love him there. The fans love him. Guys love him. Coaching staff loves him. He buys a suite (in the arena) and rents it out to people, he’s just a very giving person and just super happy to see him get that hat trick.
“He’s obviously got a new mentality on life and everything and I think he’s going to be a lot better for it on and off the ice. I’m really happy for him to obviously get that hat trick but just happy that he’s back. It’s nice to see what he did on the ice but to see him off the ice when he was with us, he just looked a lot better, a lot happier and a lot healthier. It looked like he was in a good state of mind. At the end of the day, we’re all human beings and we’re lucky enough to play this sport. But at the end of the day, he’s a husband, he’s a father first. It was great to see him get that success. Obviously, he was very emotional and I’m sure his family was emotional, too. It was really nice to see.”