Scheifele ‘feeling better every day’ after concussion

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This article was published 30/12/2015 (3640 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mark Scheifele would like to be in a rush but he knows better.

And the Winnipeg Jets wouldn’t allow it, anyway.

That said, the team’s second-line centre is making progress in his recovery from a concussion suffered at practice Saturday.

Scheifele took an important step Wednesday, participating in the team’s practice before departing for a five-game road trip. He wore an orange jersey to remind teammates of his no-contact status.

Scheifele suffered a concussion in the 2013 Ontario Hockey League playoffs in which he scored 41 points. It occurred in the second-to-last game of the season and has been an education on how he might better deal with the injury this time around.

“Obviously. And obviously our trainers are unbelievable,” Sscheifele said. “They know what to do and how to keep it in check. They’re always on me and I’ve been feeling better every day.”

Scheifele’s return is still unknown because he has more tests to pass, including a full-contact practice.

“The progress is good,” coach Paul Maurice said. “He will have to get through a number of skates and then a full-contact practice that in our minds, we can say it simulates game activity and then he has to come off that and feel right and not have any symptoms at all, and then he can play.”

The best-case scenario is Scheifele could be eligible for Sunday’s game in Anaheim.

Need some road mojo

At 17-17-2, the Jets take to the road, where they have had a poor record, 6-12-1. Away from home, they have lost five in a road and are 1-10-1 in the last 12.

“I don’t know that it’s not as night-and-day, but the numbers are, so I’m not fighting those,” Maurice said. “But our last five road losses, four of them were on the back-to-backs and the one that wasn’t, we played a hell of a game in Edmonton, played really well.

“We’ve changed some lines, changed some roles, got a little rest, got a little more confidence maybe going on the road. We were pretty low there on the road in mid-November, so we’ve got to fight for some confidence now on the road.”

Penalty-kill improves

The Jets’ penalty killing, still in the NHL’s bottom six, looks to be making some progress, very effective again Tuesday in the win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Winnipeg killed the first five short-handed situations, and has looked better in killing 13 of the last 15 situations over four games.

“I thnk we’re just more aggressive when we can be,” centre Bryan Little said. “Against a team like Detroit, where they have a lot of skilled players, we did a good job of taking away a lot of their time and space, and pressured up ice. We had a few chances even on the penalty kill last night. I think that style works for us. We’re better when we’re on the puck and more aggressive.”

AFTERBURNERS: The Jets are 6-13-0 against the Western Conference this season and 3-10-0 against the Central Division, tests they will face over the next five games… Andrew Ladd’s goal Tuesday was Winnipeg’s first with a five-on-three advantage this season.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca