Home definitely sweet for road-weary Jets, D-man Kulikov says

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/12/2017 (2816 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets played 21 road games prior to their a three-day Christmas break and defenceman Dmitry Kulikov believes the time away from the rink should have a beneficial effect on his squad.

“I feel like, with our schedule, the last three weeks has been on the road and travelling so it’s been nice to be home and enjoy the time off and kind of recharge and get away from the rink and to get thinking about something other than hockey,” said Kulikov, following Winnipeg’s pre-game skate Wednesday morning at Bell MTS Place.

“Speaking for me personally, I think everybody in this room needed a break and now we’re feeling good after that.”

The 20-11-6 Jets host the 17-17-2 Edmonton Oilers tonight at 7 p.m. (Sportsnet, TSN 1290).

The weary Jets last played Saturday afternoon in New York, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Islanders to go 1-1-1 on a road trip that also included stops in Nashville and Boston.

“I don’t know if we were tired,” said Kulikov. “I thought we didn’t have much going in terms of effort and maybe mentally we weren’t prepared for the game. We were just kinda thinking it’s going to go well for us and it didn’t and we didn’t have a response for it.”

Kulikov, who had stops with Eastern Conference teams in Florida and Buffalo earlier in his career, said the transition to a more travel-heavy schedule in the Western Conference has been eye-opening.

“When you travel in this league, especially the way we’ve been travelling, East Coast, West Coast and all different cities, it seems like we’ve been home for one game and go back on the road,” he said. “When you get to stay home and get comfortable with the routine and what you do on a daily basis, I feel like for us it’s gonna be a huge advantage. Especially with our team, we love playing at home in front of our crowds. They’re giving us a huge boost and it’s a lot of fun playing in front of a crowd like that.”

Connor Hellebuyck is slated to get the start in net for Winnipeg.

FACING THE OILERS

After the Christmas break, the Jets will put a premium on smart, simple hockey against the high-flying Oilers tonight.

“I don’t think we ever go in and say anything different,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “I don’t think we ever say let’s really handle the puck tonight and slow this thing down. But the cost of not doing it is greater (against the Oilers).

“You can survive nights where you’re over-handling the puck or you over-complicate it at times. But in a game like this, it’s the passer and the receiver you’re worried about. Are you sharp enough with the puck, can you handle the puck when it gets to you? You want to limit as many overly creative plays today — get it out, get it in.”

INJURY UPDATE

Maurice said veteran defenceman Dustin Byfuglien (lower body) and Toby Enstrom (upper body), both sidelined by injury, are moving closer to returning to active duty.

“He’s making some progress,” Maurice said of Byfuglien, who has missed seven games and hasn’t played since Dec. 9. “Both he and Toby skated this morning and I think he’ll be the first one back. Toby’s still on that eight-week window with his injury but doing well. I’m hoping for sometime probably just after the first (of January) for Dustin.”

Enstrom, meanwhile, has missed 18 games since being injured on Nov. 18.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14