Chiarot takes Enstrom’s spot on blue line tonight in Nashville

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This article was published 20/11/2017 (2856 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NASHVILLE — Ben Chiarot returns to the Winnipeg lineup tonight, exactly a month after his first and only appearance on the Jets’ blue line this season.

The Jets, riding a four-game winning streak, face the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena (7 p.m., TSN 3, TSN 1290).

Chiarot will partner with Dustin Byfuglien, whose regular defensive partner, Toby Enstrom, is sidelined with a lower-body injury sustained Saturday afternoon at home during a 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

He’s been placed on the injured reserve list and could be out for two months.

Tucker Poolman was recalled from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, but head coach Paul Maurice has turned to Chiarot, a left-shooting blue-liner.

Chiarot said this morning he’s eager to help out the cause, adding he’ll keep things relatively simple.

“Probably just getting my legs under me early on, moving the puck quick, just playing the way I know I can and have fun out there,” said the 26-year-old Hamilton product.

He’s well aware this may not be a one-and-done scenario, with Enstrom out for an extended period.

“Every game you get in this league is an opportunity to showcase yourself. Blake (Wheeler) says it all the time, he still earns it every day and he’s the hardest-working guy on our team and the captain and our best player. So, when you look at at a guy like that, it’s easy to not take it for granted and take every opportunity that you get,” offered Chiarot.

It’s Winnipeg’s first of five games against the squad that lost the Stanley Cup championship series to the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.

Both teams are off to stellar starts. The Jets (12-4-3) are coming off a perfect three-game home stand, while the Predators (11-6-2) have won six of eight contests in November.

The goaltending matchup features two of the NHL’s very best right now. Connor Hellebuyck, 7-1-1 in his last nine starts, will make his fourth-straight start in the Winnipeg net. Nashville counters with Pekka Rinne, who has earned victories in five of his last six outings.

Chiarot’s last game was Oct. 20 when he played just over 16 minutes in a 4-3 win at home over the Minnesota Wild.

Continuing to remain sharp, with both on- and off-ice workouts, while being a healthy scratch for games has been tough on the psyche, he said.

“It’s been long, it’s been a process. You start to lose your mind a little bit when you’re skating in circles every day like that. But it should all pay off. It’s keeping yourself in shape,” he said. “When you’re not playing, you focus on other things. You focus on your body and how you feel, your diet and working out and all that stuff. You do all the right things and good things should happen.”

He said he’ll draw inspiration from a good night against the Wild.

“It’s one thing if you go in and you don’t do well or the team doesn’t do well and you come back out and you know that it’s kind of your fault,” Chiarot said. “So, going in and having a good performance and the team winning, from my last game, you can reflect back on that and know that you played well and it’s not something you did to come back out of the lineup.”

Maurice said the hard work Chiarot put in as an extra player was expected of him.

“It’s a tough job, but it’s still a good job and it pays well. It’s still in the NHL,” said Maurice. “So understand where you’re at. The standard cliché of making practices your games, you have to do that. Part of the job is being able to come (in) and keep your game very simple, be effective.There’s not four or five games where you get to work your way back into being good because Tucker Poolman has been playing and he wants a shot at it, too.”

Winnipeg has a spotless 4-0-0 record against Central Division foes this season, while Nashville (4-1-1) is also earning valuable points against divisional opponents.

Tonight’s battle in Music City represents the start of a four-game road trip for the Jets, who head to California for stops in Los Angeles Wednesday, Anaheim Friday afternoon and San Jose Saturday night.

•••

Philadelphia Flyers blue-liner Radko Gudas will pay a hefty price for a brutal slash to Jets winger Mathieu Perreault Thursday night in Winnipeg.

Late Sunday, the NHL’s department of player safety handed down a 10-game suspension to Gudas, who brought his stick down like he was swinging an axe to the back of the fallen forward’s neck.

He was given a major penalty as well as a game misconduct on the play.

Perreault said the length of the punishment was appropriate and should serve as a deterrent

“I hope for him (it is). This wasn’t the first time he’s done something like that,” said Perreault. “The point of all this is to get rid of the stupid moves, really. Hopefully, that sends him a message.

“It doesn’t really change anything for me. It’s not like we’re playing those guys anytime soon, but I’m glad they took care of it. I’m just happy I didn’t get hurt. It could have been a lot worse.”

Perreault has goals in back-to-back games on an effective fourth-line combination with centre Matt Hendricks and right-winger Joel Armia since his return from a leg injury that kept him out of the lineup for a dozen games. He said while the whack from Gudas stung initially, he’s hasn’t been bothered by it since.

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell