Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers

Note:  The Jets are back in action when they take on the Kings tonight at Bell MTS Place in the third of six straight at home.  Los Angeles took down Minnesota last night in St. Paul 4-3 in overtime to maintain the third spot in the Pacific keeping themselves six points up on a Flames team that is in free fall out of the playoff picture.  The Jets had a busy day of practice on Monday and will hit the ice for today’s morning skate at 10:30 am and our Jets pre-game report will set things up. Stay tuned throughout the day for any and all Jets news and updates via Twitter |
Facebook | Instagram.

Note II:  The Moose look to finish off their seven-game road trip tonight in San Antonio with a win as they continue to push towards the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since moving back to Winnipeg.  Their magic number is 13 according to the AHL Playoff Primer.  Puck drop is at 7 pm at AT&T Center.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Sun:  Five keys to Jets vs Kings.  Ken’s keys to the game include: 1) The chase continues. 2) Reaching new heights. 3) Settle the score. 4) Which backup shines brightest? 5) Pick up the slack. And the big matchup for Ken is Adam Lowry vs Jeff Carter.

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets’ PK makes huge progress as improvements while shorthanded run deep.  From 26th last season up to 5th this year is quite a turnaround for a team that was woeful last season.

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba remains in concussion protocol.  Hard to know which way this one will go based on the information we heard from the Jets bench boss regarding his stud defenceman.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets have 10 games to answer 10 pressing questions.  (Paywall).  Mike has ten questions including: 1. Can Patrik Laine win the goal-scoring title? 2. Can Blake Wheeler win the assist title? 3. Will Connor Hellebuyck get some rest? 4. Can Jacob Trouba make a quick recovery? 5. Can the rest of the team stay healthy? 6. Will they pass Vegas? 7. Will they set regular-season franchise records? 8. How will the kids hold up? 9. Minnesota, Colorado or Dallas — can the Jets finally slay their playoff demons? 10. Will any Jets take home some post-season hardware?

Winnipeg Free Press:  Maurice has full confidence in Little.  (Paywall).  While the Jets bench boss is framing this as a move to give Copp some opportunity in the middle when a veteran centre like Little moves to the wing and even in the game he played centre (i.e. two games ago against Chicago) but doesn’t take any faceoffs you have to think he isn’t at 100% (not that many guys are at this point in the season).

Winnipeg Free Press:  Trouba ‘feeling pretty darn good,’ but undergoing concussion evaluation.  (Paywall).  While fans were probably happy to hear those comments there is still a big question mark hanging around the neck of the Jets top pairing defenceman.

Sportsnet:  Injured Jets defenceman Kulikov forgoes surgery on injured back.  While folks were awaiting news about Trouba this was an unexpected nugget dropped by the Jets bench boss as he indicated his veteran defenceman would be altering his previous plan to try to get back into the lineup sooner with a different method of recovery.

Sportsnet:  Talented teetotaller Patrik Laine gunning for league goal-scoring title.  If not drinking can have this sort of impact on playing then there may soon be a surplus of beer in Canada.  

Jets video:

Sportsnet:  Morrisey happy about high praise from coach Maurice.  Coach Paul Maurice called Josh Morrissey the best-kept secret on the Winnipeg Jets, something he doesn’t take lightly.

Jets audio:

TSN 1290 Winnipeg:  Jets PK prioritizes blocking cross seam passes.  Murat Ates of The Athletic discusses the tough decisions Paul Maurice has had to make with his lineup, the analytics the Jets use to evaluate the penalty kill, Jacob Trouba’s impact on the Jets, Jack Roslovic’s place in the Jets lineup and Andrew Copp’s play at centre.