Key Jets sit out Montreal game

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This article was published 03/04/2018 (2765 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL — Blake Wheeler just lost his gold star for perfect attendance.

Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice gave some of his key performers a night off Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens and the 31-year-old captain, who is enjoying a career year, was part of the group.

Wheeler, who hadn’t missed a game in three NHL seasons, centres Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry, defencemen Josh Morrissey and Jacob Trouba and No. 1 goalie Connor Hellebuyck were spectators at Bell Centre.

Veteran right-winger Wheeler was one of seven Jets to be in uniform for 79 consecutive games during the 2017-18 NHL season.

He played all 82 in each of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns, while Morrissey played the full slate last season and this season as well.

Maurice said he understands the significance of the iron-man factor but wasn’t swayed by it while making lineup decisions with his coaching staff — a little more than a week before the playoffs begin.

“I was aware and sensitive to it, but there were solid reasons for those guys to come out. They need the time,” Maurice said a few hours before puck drop.

“I don’t want them playing back-to-back. They’re all dealing with something, (although) it’s all minor.

“It was anybody that we didn’t want in the game (Tuesday) because they got through it (Monday), but we wanted to get them some rest.”

Winnipeg won its second-straight game on the road Monday in Ottawa, outlasting the Senators 6-5 in a run-and-gun affair. Wheeler fired his 21st and 22nd goals of the season to go with his 67 assists — he’s in a race with Philadelphia Flyers centre Claude Giroux (66 as of Monday night) for the unofficial title of NHL’s premier playmaker.

Maurice said the players who sat out against the Habs will play Thursday when the Jets host the Calgary Flames.

Sami Niku, making his NHL debut, and Dustin Byfuglien, who sat out Monday’s game in Ottawa, joined the defensive corps in Montreal. Up front, Shawn Matthias and Marko Dano played after extended time in the press box, while Jack Roslovic also returned to the lineup after sitting out a bunch of games.

Maurice said ensuring a few of his drivers got a reprieve was more important than getting others some action.

“They got to get into a game and get feeling good. But in all honesty, that was secondary. I wasn’t getting those guys in and picking people to take out. It was targeting people,” Maurice said. “They knew long before that we had a back-to-back, and if they didn’t feel 100 per cent, I was pulling them.”

Steve Mason, back from a knee injury, returned to the Winnipeg crease for the first time since he shut out the New York Rangers on March 6, while Eric Comrie backed him up.

Wheeler didn’t face the cameras Tuesday. But over the weekend, he refused to speculate on whether or not he’d elect to sit out one of the club’s final games.

“It’s a conversation we’ll have. I’m willing to do what’s best for myself and for team, and that’ll be a conversation we have to try and figure that out,” he had said.

Playing through injury is something Wheeler has done since he came into the NHL nine years ago with the Boston Bruins. The product of Plymouth, Minn., has shown immense durability since coming to Winnipeg in the summer of 2011, and missed just five games through his first four seasons with the Jets.

Since then, he’s been the constant in the Winnipeg lineup. And he produces offensively. In three previous seasons, he’s matched his jersey number (26) in goal scoring each time. Last week, he assisted on blue-liner Joe Morrow’s goal against the Boston Bruins to register his 600th career point.

Speaking prior to the Jets-Habs clash, Jets winger Patrik Laine said a night off for six key players was well-earned.

“They’ve played a lot of minutes during the season and I think it’s good for them to have a day off before the playoffs starts. But all the young guys are ready to go,” he said.

Laine isn’t eager for a short reprieve prior to the start of the playoffs.

“Maybe not yet, maybe in 10 years. I’m just excited to play,” he said.

Laine, Tyler Myers, Nikolaj Ehlers, Andrew Copp and Bryan Little are still on track to play all 82.

Wheeler, 31, who played his 776th NHL regular-season game in Ottawa, only knows one way to play the game — with ferocity. He’ll sacrifice his body to make a smart defensive play or block a shot.

But stuff happens. Just ask the Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild and Anaheim Ducks.

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos suffered a lower-body injury in a 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Sunday and is listed as day-to-day. Lightning coach Jon Cooper said the injury isn’t cause for concern, although Stamkos didn’t play Tuesday in a crucial matchup with the Boston Bruins.

The Minnesota Wild, meanwhile, received catastrophic news over the weekend when premier blue-liner Ryan Suter fractured his right ankle Saturday in a 4-1 defeat to the host Dallas Stars on Saturday and is out indefinitely.

And the Ducks announced Tuesday that blue-liner Cam Fowler will be out two to six weeks with a shoulder injury and will miss at least the first round of the Western Conference playoffs should Anaheim qualify.

Winnipeg is already missing two left-shooting defenceman — Dmitry Kulikov (back) and Toby Enstrom (lower body) — and centre Matt Hendricks (lower body). Only Enstrom is a possibility for the post-season.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell