After going 2-2 during their season opening road trip the Jets will host the Minnesota Wild tonight in their home opener. The Jets lost all five games to the Wild last season so they will be looking to draw first blood in this year’s season series.
AM Notes:
As per Ken Wiebe of The Athletic both Josh Morrissey and Dmitry Kulikov are on the ice in normal practice uniforms while Bryan Little continues to wear a gold non-contact jersey. Ken also provides the lines and D pairs below.
Jets projected lines, D pairs and goalies:
Laine-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Copp-Ehlers
Perreault-Roslovic-Appleton
Bourque-Lowry-Letestu
Morrissey-Pionk
Heinola-Poolman
Kulikov-Bitetto
Hellebuyck
Brossoit.
Ken indicated that Connor Hellebuyck was the first goalie off the ice which means he will get the start.
Extras: Gustafsson, Niku, Dahlstrom.
Audio:
Josh Morrissey
Patrik Laine
Coach Maurice: Thoughts on Adam Lowry’s role. No ego to deal with regarding Lowry. Is Josh Morrissey in? On having Kulikov/Bitetto in and Niku/Dahlstrom out. On Laine admitting that being in a contract year “getting to him” and whether he as a coach sees that. Was it an overly cautious approach with Josh Morrissey? On Morrissey wanting to get back to help the team. What if anything has he said to the forwards on getting back to play D (especially in light of the lack of NHL experience with the Jets backend)? What has stood out about Patrik’s Laine game through four games? On why the top line is working well together. Does he see Little and Lowry as a possible combination? What is the next step for Little?
All audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.
Health Update:
Bryan Little continues to wear a non-contact jersey and Coach Maurice was asked for the next hurdle in his return to game action. “If he feels great today, then we just push him real hard on the ice. Then he gets to the point that he gets to some bumping in. And it’s all feeling good and passing tests and all those kinds of things.”
Up Next:
Puck drop is at 7:00 pm CDT. Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action which includes post-game audio from the Jets room as well as from Coach Maurice.
