Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness says they are hopeful Nino Niederreiter can play Saturday

The Jets are in Dallas today for a big Central division showdown with the Stars who currently sit first overall in the Western Conference. They skated this morning at American Airlines Arena and as per Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press, for the second straight day of practice they were joined on the ice by Nino Niederreiter who has been sidelined since the 3rd period of the game against the Kings back on April 1st after suffering a cut to his leg.

Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)

After morning skate concluded Jets head coach Rick Bowness was asked about Niederreiter’s status.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to the coaches yet but they were going to push him hard today, we’ll see where he is. So I don’t have an update on that but we’re hoping for Saturday. We’ll push him today, we’ll push him tomorrow and we’ll see how he feels.”

While the Jets would probably like to get him into a couple of games before the season concludes next Thursday they also don’t want to take a risk of impacting his ability to be available for the playoffs. If he plays on Saturday against Colorado he’d get three games under his belt before the post-season begins.