Trouba returns, others still on sidelines

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This article was published 15/03/2018 (2738 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets welcomed back Jacob Trouba from a lengthy absence, and saw Paul Stastny return to the lineup after a brief scare in Nashville, with both contributing in a (6-2) win over the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday night at Bell MTS Place.

Trouba chipped in with two assists while logging the second fewest minutes (13:58) of the Jets’ defenceman, and Stastny played a regular shift between Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, and scored his third goal — and ninth point — in eight games since being acquired from the St. Louis Blues at the trade deadline.

While any good news on the injury front is surely greeted with open arms from the Jets and their fans, even the return of two key contributors will do little to ease the minds of those expecting a long playoff push come April. With just 11 games remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Jets are approaching the final stretch before the post-season — still down a number of important players. Heading into Thursday’s game, Winnipeg had five regulars out of the lineup and had amassed 231 man-games lost.

“With the amount of injuries we’ve dealt with, it’s not our full hockey team,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said after the team’s morning skate. “Our effort has been outstanding. Whether or not that’s good enough is going to depend on the night.”

After what’s been a consistent year for the Jets for much of the 2017-18 season — Winnipeg is 41-19-10 and seven points ahead of the Minnesota Wild for second place in the Central Division — the wear and tear of an 82-game season has started to take its toll.

Centres Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry continue to work their way through upper-body injuries. Though head coach Paul Maurice said Thursday both have been cleared for contact once the team returns to work Saturday for practice, that’s not saying either will be available for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Stars.

Scheifele and Lowry suffered their current injuries shortly after returning from injuries earlier in the season.

Lowry aggravated what is believed to be a shoulder injury. Scheifele, who suffered a shoulder injury in December that cost him 16 games, is suffering from another upper-body ailment.

With the playoffs just around the corner, it only makes sense that Maurice might not be willing to risk any further damage.

“We don’t want to deal with these injuries ever again, we want them done with,” Maurice said.

Perhaps an added sense of caution is starting to set in for Maurice, who seemed hesitant Thursday to dress Trouba, despite the young defenceman being cleared by doctors and missing the last seven weeks to recover. The same thing is happening with Toby Enstrom, who Maurice called “real close,” but admitted to being stubborn in allowing the defenceman to come back from a lower-body injury he suffered in February — one that, at first prognosis, suggested he might not miss any time at all.

Not that you can blame him. Throw in the fact centre Matt Hendricks (lower-body, six to eight weeks), defenceman Dmitry Kulikov (upper-body, week-to-week) and goaltenders Steve Mason (knee, week-to-week) and Michael Hutchinson (concussion, week-to-week) are all expected to miss notable time, and the only one putting in more overtime to game plan than the Jets coach is perhaps the local bubble-wrap company anticipating his call in the event more players go down.

But if you were to ask Maurice if being extra careful for what could be a long run in the spring is by design, what you get is a reality check that the Jets have yet to punch their ticket to the playoffs. Even if it’s only a matter of time until they do.

“Well, 92 points isn’t getting you in the playoffs. A big theme for us is handling the day we have in front of us — not tomorrow, not the last game — just deal with your day,” he said. “If we get to a point later in this season where we think we’re in a really good position for that, then I’ll make a decision on is there any injuries here that we can make better with two or three days off? I’m not pulling 10 guys out of our lineup to rest them.”

It’s not like Maurice can afford to pack it in, either, as the Jets, prior to Thursday’s win, had suffered losses in their last three games and, for a team that is known for it’s scoring prowess, has been limited to three or less goals in their previous six games. That, of course, is not to suggest he isn’t aware his team is banged up; it’s just that he doesn’t see the situation being any different from the other 30 teams in the league.

“The list (of injuries) that every team has right now, if you’ve got four or five on your list, you’re pretty happy,” he said.

Inside the dressing room, the players, though weary at seeing the number of marquee players currently out, feel they have the depth and the mental toughness to persevere, no matter what the lineup looks like. Unlike previous years, where the high and lows of a season were often too much to handle, there’s a certain confidence with this group that has created the belief that the adversity of having a number of key players out will only make them a better team.

“Just because you have injuries, the whole world doesn’t stop and wait until everyone’s healthy so you can play again, you have to deal with that,” defenceman Josh Morrissey said. “It’s a situation that happens. That’s pro sports, and you’re going to have injuries to key players.

“You’re never happy unless you win, but we’re happy with the way guys can come in and compete and have that depth in the organization.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @jeffkhamilton