Jets not using injuries as excuse

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This article was published 16/01/2012 (5007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA – Complaining will get them nowhere, so the injury-ravaged Winnipeg Jets are putting on a brave face in advance of Monday’s match-up against the scorching-hot Ottawa Senators.

The Jets, who have dropped five of their last six, will be without defencemen Zach Bogosian and Dustin Byfuglien and also minus leading scorer Blake Wheeler, who took a puck in the throat in Saturday’s loss to New Jersey and will not join the team on their two-games-in-two-nights road trip that concludes Tuesday in New Jersey.

“(The injuries) could be a factor, but I don’t think the guys are really thinking about that,” said Jets’ winger Evander Kane after Monday’s game-day skate at Scotiabank Place. “The guys that are in the room, the guys that are playing… that’s who we have to focus on. We can win with whoever is in the lineup. We can’t allow injuries or would, coulda or if or maybe to enter into our thinking.

“(Wheeler) has been one of our best players this year and we’re going to have to have other guys step up and fill that offensive void. I think we have the guys to do that.”

That said, even with Wheeler in the lineup the Jets have been goal-starved of late. Winnipeg has scored just six goals in its last five games and been held to one goal or less in 15 contests this season.

They face a Senators’ side that has won four straight and is 8-1-1 in its last 10 – a streak that has rocketed them up the Eastern Conference standings with a 25-25-6 record. Ottawa has won both contests against the Jets this year; 4-1 here in Ottawa in October and 6-4 in Winnipeg in late November.

“We’ve got a lot of weight out of our lineup in Byfuglien, Bogosian and Wheeler… guys with size that can create separation off the puck,” said Jets’ head coach Claude Noel. “But we’ve got other guys who can step in and do things either by committee or individually. We’ve got what we’ve got and we’re going to battle our way through it.

“The difference is we’ve got to be way more conscientious defending. We’re not an offensive team right now, we’re a little more offensive than what we’re playing, but for us it’s the low-scoring game and the heavy-checking game that we’ve got to manage. For me, what has to be better is our puck management. We give the puck up too easily, now we’re always checking it back. So it’s pretty tough to score goals if the other team’s got the puck. When we have it, let’s maintain control and play with it a lot more and not give it up so easily. That’s one thing that’s disturbing for me.

“We’re not going to be a high-scoring team. We have to play with a lot of will, and will to check it back and will to get it into the net. It’s not going to be pretty most nights.”

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As for an update on Wheeler, he was to skate in Winnipeg on Monday but because of the quick trip here, the team has opted to keep him out until Thursday’s home date against the Buffalo Sabres.

Veteran Chris Mason will start in goal for the Jets’ tonight, while Craig Anderson counters for the Senators.

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait

Join us for our live game blog as the Winnipeg Jets visit Ottawa to play the Senators Monday at 6:30 p.m.