It was a wild and wacky Friday night as the Jets and Blues played an entertaining game which the visitors took in OT. These two teams however will meet up again tomorrow in St. Louis to complete the home and home series.
Coach Maurice provided a health update on Friday regarding Mathieu Perreault, who appears close to a return, as well as regarding Bryan Little.
Skate News:
Close but no cigar for Mathieu Perreault quite yet as according to Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press the veteran forward is in a yellow, non-contact jersey today at practice. Mike adds that Perreault is wearing a tinted visor. As per Mitchell Clinton of Jets TV no changes to lines or D pairs.
Jets Practice Lines, D pairs:
Connor-Scheifele-Laine
Ehlers-Wheeler-Roslovic
Bourque-Lowry-Appleton
Harkins-Shore-Shaw
Morrissey-Poolman
Sbisa-Pionk
Bitetto-Beaulieu
Audio/Video:
Mathieu Perreault – spoke about how he is feeling, the game he is targeting to return, the hit that knocked him out of the lineup, play of 3rd line with him/Copp/Lowry, on the supplemental discipline Farabee got, dealing with a concussion and more.
Connor Hellebuyck – reflected on last night’s OT loss, tough on goalies following a break, assessing his last half dozen games, the challenge ahead for the Jets, playing an afternoon game, notice anything in this 2-4-1 stretch and play of the PK.
? Head Coach Paul Maurice on Mathieu Perreault and facing St Louis again tomorrow night. pic.twitter.com/Mi6qlIoCGW
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) December 28, 2019
Coach Maurice: Update on Mathieu Perreault. Would he automatically slide back into the 3rd line? Play of Connor Hellebuyck of late. First game after the break. Comrie put on waivers. Anything catch his attention about the Blues? Kyle Connor playing big minutes. Need to improve the penalty kill. What has he liked about the 3rd line? Being mindful of Hellebuyck’s workload. Giving up quality chances and whether it is becoming a dangerous trend. Forechecking.
All audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.
Health Update:
Coach Maurice was asked about Mathieu Perreault “He’s kinda passed all the protocol he needs to get through. So then it goes to contact. But we’d like to get him through a full skate first to make sure all the bodies spinning around the ice don’t set him off. He felt real good at the end of it. We got an unusual 2 o’clock game tomorrow so I don’t have him in the lineup but he’ll get another full skate in Colorado (on Monday) and that’s when the decision will get made.”
Up Next:
The Jets will have a re-match with the Blues tomorrow afternoon at 2 PM when they complete the home and home series in Missouri. Be sure to keep it locked to illegalcurve.com for the AM Papers which go live at 7 AM.