Ehlers out, Morrissey in for Jets tonight

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This article was published 05/03/2016 (3559 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nikolaj Ehlers will be out more than a week and Josh Morrissey makes his NHL debut for the Winnipeg Jets tonight because Jacob Trouba is injured.

The Jets will have recalled Morrissey and J.C. Lipon in their lineup tonight when the sagging Montreal Canadiens make their annual visit to the MTS Centre in a game featuring two non-playoff teams.

The Jets are 13 points off the Western Conference playoff line with their 57 points and the Habs are eight away with their 66 in the Eastern Conference.

Jets coach Paul Maurice said this morning Ehlers remains out indiefinitely after being struck in the visor with a puck on Thursday night. The visor broke, cutting the rookie around the eye.

“Good news in that his test yesterday, the bleeding stopped so we can comfortably say we’re not expecting any long-term problems with his injury,” the coach said. “He’s going to see a specialist in a week and between now and that time he’s not going to do anything.

“In a week’s time we’ll get a feel for where the blood level is in his eye and then go from there. He’s still out indefinitely. We really don’t know how long it’s going to take and the next step is a week from now.”

J.C. Lipon was recalled on Friday to take Ehlers’ spot in the lineup.

Something happened to Trouba in Thursday night’s overtime loss to the Islanders that will keep him out tonight. It’s an upper-body issue.

“He skated today knowing he wasn’t playing tonight,” Maurice said. “He’ll come back to the rink tomorrow and we’ll put him on the ice and if he feels good then he’s probable for the game.”

The Jets are home against Edmonton on Sunday night.

Trouba’s absence today provides the opening for Morrissey, the club’s first-round selection of the 2013 draft. The Jets recalled Morrissey late Friday and he will be paired with Tyler Myers when tonight’s game starts.

“It’s the culmination of a lot of work to get to this point,” a beaming Morrissey said this morning. “It’s just so exciting.”He said there will be plenty of conversation with Myers today and it began with meetings and the game-day skate this morning.

“Besides the fact we both played with the (Kelowna) Rockets in junior, Tyler’s an amazing player and to be able to play my first game alongside him is definitely an honour,” Morrissey said. “He’s a skilled defenceman obviously and we all move the puck pretty well out there and it’s a huge honour.”

Morrissey, 20, has put up three goals and 22 points for the AHL’s Moose this season in 56 games.

“As soon as I got sent down, I immediately got to work and started working on the things I needed to,” Morrissey said. Maurice said today he’s eager to see what Morrissey can do on NHL ice.

“First I’m hoping he enjoys the heck out of tonight,” the coach said. “It’s Saturday night, we’re playing the Montreal Canadiens, he’s a Canadian kid, mom and dad are coming and I hope he just soaks it all up and enjoys every minute of it. Then I want to see what he does well at the NHL level.

“He’s a smooth defenceman, skates well and sees the ice well. This is going to be a whole lot faster than any exhibition game he would have played or any game in the AHL, so we’ll take that skillset and apply it to an NHL game and see how he does.”

The Jets look like they’ll go with Ondrej Pavelec tonight in goal, while the Habs are expected to counter with Mike Condon.

This morning, Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban spoke about the team’s dive to a point so far out of the playoffs.

Montreal is finishing a four-game road trip tonight, having gone 3-5-2 in its last 10.

“We’re confident we’ve played a lot of good hockey lately and we just have to find way to continue to put shots on the board and scoring chances and keep the puck out of our net. It’s pretty simple,”

Subban said. “At the end of a long road trip like this, there’s no reason we can’t just empty the tank.”

Subban didn’t fret about the Habs’ plight, struggling to get back near the playoff picture.

“That’s a part of life sometimes, the way it goes sometimes,” he said. “You do all the right things and still maybe don’t get what you deserve. All we can do is focus on what we can control and that’s how we play and that’s going to give us the best opportunity to win hockey games.

“I’ve been through it before where we’ve been in a situation at the bottom of our conference and bottom of the league and it’s not a fun place to be. For us right now, we’re looking at trying to make the playoffs but it gets tougher every day we continue to lose games or pick up points in games. It’s definitely frustrating to be in this situation but at the same time we have a lot of pride about playing the right way.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca