Winnipeg Jets could be without Bryan Little for game against Arizona Coyotes

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This article was published 26/01/2016 (3855 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The win-starved, goal-starved Winnipeg Jets may have taken another low blow to their attack.

Already minus Mathieu Perreault and Adam Lowry, the Jets could now be without No. 1 centre Bryan Little for tonight’s contest against the Arizona Coyotes at MTS Centre (7 p.m.; TSN3/TSN 1290).

Little left practice early on Monday with what is believed to be a back ailment and was not on the ice for today’s game-day skate.

“We had to have him looked at this morning and run some tests,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice. “The plan is right now, unless something changes, is he’s going to take the warm-up and he’s going to play.”

Little’s absence this morning prompted even more line juggling for Maurice, with Blake Wheeler at centre between Andrew Ladd and Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Scheifele centering Joel Armia and Drew Stafford, Alex Burmistrov flanked by Chris Thorburn and Matt Halischuk and Andrew Copp in the middle between Patrice Cormier and Matt Halischuk.

Asked if he felt his team was snake-bitten or cursed with all the injuries, Maurice added:

“No. It’s a challenge at centre, more than anything else. There’s some positives in it in that I think Matty Perreault moving to centre ice is going to be something you look a little harder at. One or two guys go down it changes what everybody else on the wings get to do and who they play with.

“If Bryan’s out we’ll have Blake at centre ice and we liked him at centre, so there’s another option. I’m not saying it’s a long-term option, but if Blake was to go into the middle and catch fire we’ll leave him there for as long as he was on fire. It’ll change what you maybe think about different players, different wingers, going forward.”

Scheifele will return to the lineup for the first time since suffering a knee injury on Jan. 7th in Dallas. He was at centre between Wheeler and Ehlers on Monday, but a day later was with Armia and Stafford due to Little’s absence.

“Every team goes through injuries and it just happens to be our time now,” said Scheifele. “We have to find a way to fill that void, whether that means doing it by committee or whatever it is.

“(Having new linemates) happens all the time. You always play with new guys and when you’re in the NHL every guy is a good player. So, no matter who you’re playing with they’re going to be able to make plays and hopefully we can find that chemistry early.”

The Jets have dropped three straight to fall to 21-24-3 – 10 points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference and just four points ahead Columbus, who hold last place overall. This is their last game before the NHL All-Star break.

“(The break) is good in that sense, in giving the injured guys a little extra time to recover and get healthy again and get our team back,” said Jets defenceman Tyler Myers. “But saying that, we’re confident in our group and now what we have to do to win.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait