After a tough 5-1 loss to the Kings last night the Jets hit the ice at hockey for all centre to prepare to face the Golden Knights tomorrow night. Of course the big question was surrounding the health of Gabriel Vilardi who left the game yesterday in the 1st and did not return.
Skate news:
No Gabriel Vilardi and no Mason Appleton on the ice.
Lines and D pairs:
Connor-Scheifele-Kupari
Ehlers-Perfetti-Namestnikov
Iafallo-Lowry-Niederreiter
Barron-Gustafsson
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Stanley-Chisholm
Hellebuyck
Brossoit
Worth noting that Rick Bowness said the above lines were just so they could practice today. Really sounds like Mason Appleton, if he’s good to go, will be up with Connor and Scheifele. He also said Vlad Namestnikov will centre the line with Ehlers and Perfetti which takes the pressure of 91. Will likely look like:
Connor-Scheifele-Appleton
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Iafallo-Lowry-Niederreiter
Barron-Kupari-Gustafsson
Starting goalie:
Laurent Brossoit confirms that he will get the start in net.
Player media availability:
Coach media availability:
Topics included:
1) Update on Gabriel Vilardi and Mason Appleton
2) Does David Gustafsson come into the lineup? (:36)
3) Is that a minimum timeline for Vilardi? (1:04)
4) How he feels for Vilardi (1:11)
5) How much of a setback is it for the team? (1:38)
6) The injury to Vilardi could have been worse (1:49)
7) Moving Rasmus up? (2:08)
8) Using Vlad Namestnikov up the middle (2:25)
9) Giving Laurent Brossoit the start tomorrow (2:57)
10) Expecting him to pick up where he left off from pre-season (3:35)
11) Making changes on the backend (4:02)
12) Benefits for Cole Perfetti playing wing (4:42)
13) Benefits of Niederreiter with Lowry (5:23)
14) Has he noticed all the empty seats at the arena? (5:47)
15) Needing a recall from the Moose (6:33)
16) How would he assess Connor Hellebuyck’s game? (6:42)
17) His confidence in David Gustafsson’s game? (7:22)
18) What makes Mason Appleton a fit on the top line? (7:44)
Health update:
We learned from head coach Rick Bowness that Gabriel Vilardi is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a sprained MCL. He also indicated that Mason Appleton was maintenance and they expect him to play tomorrow.
Up next:
Jets take on the Golden Knights tomorrow night in Winnipeg to conclude this homestand.
