The Jets have gone from road warriors to a team struggling away from Winnipeg, dropping four of their last five, including last night’s 5–3 loss in Seattle in which they surrendered a one-goal lead in the 3rd period for the first time this season. They had been 7–0 in such situations before last night.
They were back on the ice this afternoon in Calgary for their first practice in six days. The main health questions centered on Cole Koepke and Morgan Barron—how they looked and whether they’re close to returning. For now, both remain on IR, along with Haydn Fleury, who is in concussion protocol. When one or more of the injured players is ready to return, it will require Winnipeg to send someone down to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
Skate news:
According to Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press, both Cole Koepke and Morgan Barron were in regular jerseys today. For Barron, it’s the first time—and welcome news, given he was listed as week-to-week just eleven days ago.
Lines and D pairs:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Namestnikov-Toews-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Iafallo
Pearson-Ford-Nyquist
Koepke-Lambert-Chibrikov
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Schenn
Barron-Miller
Hellebuyck
Comrie
Player media:
Coach media:
Topics:
1) Reflections on last night’s game.
2) How to improve execution? (:18)
3) Thoughts on guys coming back from injury (1:08)
4) The Lowry line driving play (1:45)
5) Latest on Koepke & Barron (2:15)
6) Frustration level right now? (2:33)
7) Does team get benefit of doubt? (3:13)
Health news:
Coach Scott Arniel said, “I know they didn’t have yellow (non-contact) jerseys—they had light blue—but they’re all a lot closer. That was the first time for both of them. Probably not options for tomorrow, but there’s a good chance for Columbus.”
Up next:
Usually our focus in this section is on tomorrow but tonight if you’d like to join us at McNally Robinson at 7 PM CST we are hosting a special evening of stories with TSN’s James Duthie in celebration of the Winnipeg launch of Certified Beauties. Come be part of the conversation.
The Jets and Flames will do battle on Saturday night. You can start your day with all the latest Jets and Moose news in the AM Papers on illegalcurve.com which are available starting at 7 AM CST, join us for two hours of Jets talk on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show, stick with us throughout the day for updates and then join us on the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show after the final buzzer around 11:40 PM CST.
