Halischuk takes Perreault’s spot in Jets practice

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This article was published 14/04/2015 (3899 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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The Winnipeg Jets will soon be wheels up to Anaheim, en route to Game 1 of a historic playoff series – historic, for this franchise, at least –with the Ducks.

The Jets practiced this morning at MTS Centre and were scheduled to charter to California in the afternoon. The noteworthy news from today’s session was the absence of forward Mathieu Perreault, who was injured in last Thursday’s shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

“He’s getting better,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice. “We don’t want to turn it into a bigger problem than it is. He’ll get back out on the ice. He may play based on how he feels after he skates. I expect him to go sooner rather than later.”

Matt Halischuk worked in Perreault’s spot alongside Adam Lowry and Lee Stempniak at practice and may line up there for Game 1 Thursday in Anaheim. Asked what he might expect of Halischuk if he gets the call, Maurice said:

“That’s an easy one, because you expect the same thing you saw in Day 1 of training camp. He’s done the exact same thing every day. He’s great on the bench. He works to his complete capacity on the ice. He’s on the puck, he’s quick. He’s a version of what we want all our players to be every night: he’s a great pro, very similar to Mike Frolik in terms of what his practice is going to look like that day and you know that you’re getting that in the game.”

There is a growing confidence in the Jets room – not cocky, but understated – as they prepare to head into the franchise’s first playoff series since relocating to Winnipeg four years ago.

“We just have to stay within ourselves,” said Blake Wheeler. “We have a lot of guys that are a little green when it comes to playoff experience but I think we use that as a positive. We obviously have a group that is excited to be here and be a part of it. But we’re here for a reason and it’s because of how we play and the things we’ve bought in to. So, we don’t need to reinvent right now. We just need to stick to what we do.

“The one thing that’s for sure is we’re going to compete our tails off every night. That’s one thing about our group that’s never a question.”

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait

JETS LINES TUESDAY

Ladd-Little-Frolik
Stafford-Scheifele-Wheeler
Halischuk-Lowry-Stempniak
Tlusty-Slater-Thorburn
D PAIRINGS
Chiarot-Byfuglien
Enstrom-Myers
Stuart-Trouba
(Pardy-Harrison)
GOALIES
Pavelec
Hutchinson

Injured: Matthieu Perreault.