Jets eye Capitals’ lineup ahead of big game

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This article was published 15/03/2012 (5256 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s the latest in a series of “biggest game of the year” scenarios for the Winnipeg Jets and as the playoff picture tightens the storylines around each contest become even bigger.

And so while the Jets held an optional skate at MTS Centre Thursday in advance of Friday’s mammoth tilt with the Washington Capitals, a great deal of buzz was centered around news from the U.S. capital that Alex Ovechkin left practice after a collision with teammate Mike Knuble. The Washington Post reported that Ovechkin and Knuble crashed into each other about 10 minutes into practice and that the Capitals’ superstar lay prone on the ice for about two minutes, “pressing his gloved hands against his helmet as trainers attended to him.”

Ovechkin did not return to the ice and about an hour after the collision medical staff were still evaluating him. Afterward, Caps’ head coach Dale Hunter said Ovechkin would travel with the team to Winnipeg and suit up against the Jets. Hunter said Ovechkin did not suffer a head injury, but had “lost his wind.”

“He’s fine,” Hunter said. “It was two big guys colliding at full speed. Something real bad could have happened. They got crossed in their signals. They were supposed to be in the other lane.”

Added Knuble: “We had the whole ice to work together and we occupied the same space. That was a lot of beef coming together there at full speed, you know? When people don’t see each other, it gets pretty dangerous. There’s the whole ice there. You can’t run into each other. It’s just stupid. It’s more annoying than anything. It’s embarrassing that someone gets hurt.”

The Jets, 10th in the Eastern Conference, trail the eighth-place Capitals by four points in the race for the final playoff spot. The Caps are one point behind Southeast Division-leading Florida; the Jets are five back of the Panthers.

The Jets and Caps have two more meeting this season: here on Friday and then next Friday in Washington. The Caps are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and are arguably playing their best hockey of the season, certainly their best under Dale Hunter, who replaced Bruce Boudreau as head coach earlier this year.

“It’s not the same Washington team that Bruce coached,” said Jets’ coach Claude Noel. “They don’t play the same way, there’s quite a bit of difference and they’re way more patient. They don’t run and gun, they play with much more control and more defensive-minded. They’ve come back and won games lately and they can also be dangerous.”

Noel said defenceman Zach Bogosian remains day-to-day, although he did participate in Thursday’s optional skate.

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait