Byfuglien back on ice after ‘little bump’

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This article was published 12/03/2016 (3495 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dustin Byfuglien will be on the ice against the Colorado Avalanche tonight at the MTS Centre (6 p.m., City, TSN1290).

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman was back in action in this morning’s game-day skate despite being unable to complete Thursday’s game in Detroit.

“Just a little bump,” Byfugliuen said this morning. “I was just kind of taking care of it right away.”

Byfuglien was only able to play 19 minutes and 44 seconds in Thursday’s 3-2 defeat, down from his 30:11 on Thursday against Nashville.

“He felt a lot better yesterday than we may have thought he would and he came in today and he said he was right,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said today.

The Jets, 27-35-5 and 15 points behind the 35-30-4 Avs who hold down the Western Conference’s final playoff berth, have a long string of injuries that were updated today by Maurice.

The best news is that speedy rookie Nikolaj Ehlers is doing well in his recovery from a cut around his eye more than a week ago.

“He had his appointment on Thursday,” the coach said. “It went very, very well. The next block of time is a seven-day block coming to (next) Thursday where he has very, very light activity.

“So he was on the ice this morning in his equipment on his own. It’s all about heart rate. We’re not pushing him right now. If everything goes very well to next Thursday it’s going to be OK to increase the activity and the bloodflow.

“Where it goes after that I’m not sure. My general assessment is that things are going really well right now and we’re very, very happy with his (progress).”

Rookie winger Joel Armia, with a lower-body injury, is five to seven days away from action, Maurice said. He is back on the ice.

Defenceman Mark Stuart, out since mid-February with what’s surely a broken hand, is also back on the ice.

“He’s back skating and this is just waiting for a bone to heal,” Maurice said. “So he can get pushed harder now on the ice. The day that the doc says his injury is healed, he’s playing the next day.”

Winger Anthony Peluso, out since March 3, is done for the year after having shoulder surgery.

Byfuglien said today you’ll hear no complaining from him about his workload, even if it reaches 30 minutes of icetime.

“You just put the boots on and go to work,” he said in a familiar refrain. “You just have to go. He puts you out there, you go. You’re not going to say no.”

The big defenceman was also asked about his take on the ever-younger lineup the Jets have been icing, in part due to injuries.

“Man they’re a pain in the ass,” he cracked. “No, it’s fun. They’re coming in and they’re learning and you just give them little tips as they go along. For the most part, they’re pretty respectful to us older guys and they’re coming to work.

“It’s the time of year where there’s a lot of hockey going on right now. It’s not easy on anybody, young or old and it wears and tears on you. You just keep your focus on the game and it’s something that we talk about and teach as we go.”

The focus is an important element of the final four weeks of the season, centre Adam Lowry said this morning, especially in light of the fact the team has lost 10 of the last 12 but there hasn’t been a blowout among them.

“It is frustrating,” Lowry said. “You play hard in a game … we really liked our first period but not so much our second (in Detroit) but coming out in the third we thought we did a really good job limiting their chances and creating some of our own.

“It’s one breakdown that seems to be the difference lately. When you look at the big picture, there are a lot of positives we can take from this last string of games. Now it’s about building and creating that identity throughout the entire game. That’s going to be something in these next 15 games that we’re really going to focus on, getting those strong starts like we used to have and to continue those on, minimize the lulls in those games.”

Lowry was banished from Thursday’s game with a misconduct with 2:29 to play.

“I don’t know why,” he said today. “I didn’t like the hit by (Justin) Abdelkaer, I guess. I challenged him to fight and next thing I know I’m out of the game.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca