Winnipeg Jets Practice Report

The Jets used Sunday as a travel day after leaving Winnipeg having gone 2-1-1 during their four-game homestanding which included a 4-2 win to conclude things on Saturday night against the Canadiens. It was also the unofficial start to the Moms Trip as the players had their moms in attendance at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg to see the win over Montreal.

Despite being 4-5-1 in their last ten games they remains atop the NHL Standings with 45 points although the Capitals/Wild (44) and Golden Knights (43) are nipping at their heels and all three teams have games in hand. The point is that while Winnipeg has some things they need to get back on track they are still up there without two of their most important players in Dylan Samberg (broken foot/out until new year) and Nikolaj Ehlers (could return this road trip). Of course if 27 is ready to return it does make one wonder what the team does with Nikita Chibrikov which is a subject Connor Hrabchack tackled for us here.

It’s been almost two months since the Jets have face off against the Sharks which they did back on October 16th in Winnipeg picking up an 8-3 win over on a night when Perfetti, Pionk and Namestnikov each had four points. That night the Sharks were missing 1st overall pick Macklin Celebrini. The rookie is having an excellent season with 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points in 21 games. While things are going well for him his club has lost four of their last five games and sit 7th in the Pacific with a 11-17-5 record.

Skate news:

As per colour analyst on 680 CJOB Mitchell Clinton it is a return to a regular uniform for winger Nikolaj Ehlers while David Gustafsson (concussion) is in a yellow, non-contact jersey. However Mitchell has the lines and D pairs as unchanged from last game so it appears Ehlers may need a bit more time and which delays any need to either re-assign Chibrikov or waive a player.

Lines and D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Chibrikov
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
Ehlers, Gustafsson (non-contact)

Morrissey-DeMelo
Fleury-Pionk
Stanley-Miller
Heinola-Coghlan

Coach update on 19 & 27

On David Gustafsson:

“Yeah, it is obviously still in the concussion protocol, but just he’s farther along. He got to bike yesterday. Now, obviously gets to get on the ice. We’ll just kind of move him along here. No rush here. Obviously with concussions it’s a tricky area. So just go day to day.”

On Nikolaj Ehlers it was volunteered by Mitchell that he remains “day to day” to which the bench boss confirmed adding:

“That was the first full practice with us today, and kind of, we’ll move forward here again. We’ll just, we’ll talk about it, and see where he’s at with Mullet, and we’ll see where we go. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Up next:

The Jets will take on the Sharks tomorrow at 9:30 PM CST.  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, stick with us throughout the day for updates and then join us on the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show after the final buzzer.