Byfuglien, Kulikov back tonight against St. Louis

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/12/2018 (2465 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pair of veteran defenceman, Dustin Byfuglien and Dmitry Kulikov, return to the lineup tonight as the Winnipeg Jets get a major injection of talent and experience when they face the St. Louis Blues.

Puck drop at Bell MTS Place is 7 p.m. (TSN 3, TSN 1290).

The Jets (17-8-2) are coming off three straight victories in the New York area and have registered four wins in a row dating back to Nov. 29 when they knocked off the visiting Chicago Blackhawks. The Blues (9-13-4) have already dropped three games to the Jets this season, including an 8-4 setback Nov. 24 when Patrik Laine fired five goals in St. Louis.

Byfuglien, who missed four games with a concussion, rejoins Ben Chiarot on the blue line. Kulikov returns after a upper-body injury that kept him out of a dozen games, and will be paired with Tyler Myers.

Josh Morrissey, a late scratch Tuesday in Brooklyn against the New York Islanders, is nearing a return but won’t play tonight. Sami Niku will suit up for his fifth-straight contest and will be partnered with Jacob Trouba.

“Morrissey is really close, but we’re going to hold him out one more. We think we can get him as near to 100 per cent as a hockey player gets for (Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers),” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice.

Sunday’s 2 p.m. start is the second of four straight games at home.

Niku has been held pointless in four games since he was recalled from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose and pressed into duty because of the rash of injuries to Winnipeg’s back end. The 22-year-old Finn looked out of place in his first two tests (Chicago and New Jersey) but was reliable against the Rangers in a limited role and then had a terrific game paired with Trouba against the Islanders, playing nearly 20 minutes.

“We really liked his last game. (As) the left (defenceman) there, the two of them played together (in Brooklyn) and that was Sami’s best performance as a Jet,” said Maurice. “I felt he deserved to go back in. I was pleased with his game.”

Niku, slightly built but a brilliant skater who’s shifty with the puck, has worked to clean things up in his own end alongside Trouba and has moved the puck up quickly and effectively, while keeping his risk-taking to a minimum since his promotion to the NHL last month.

“It’s not fair to relate this young man to Josh Morrissey, but in some ways when they came into pro hockey they came in the same way, very highly skilled offensive defencemen,” Maurice said.

“The thing that turned the corner for Josh that led to maybe him becoming a different type of player was speed… awareness of how and when to how to use it. For Sami, it’s an awareness that you have to use more all the time. We saw him skate in a different way (against the Islanders) and that is a driver for all parts of his game.”

Blue-liner Joe Morrow didn’t skate today and there’s no timetable for his return.

Dependable forward Andrew Copp is still hurt and won’t play, so Mathieu Perreault slots in on the Adam Lowry line, while Brendan Lemieux joins Jack Roslovic and Mason Appleton on the fourth line, just as he did against the Islanders.

No. 1 goalie Connor Hellebuyck (12-7-1) gets his third consecutive start in the Winnipeg net.

The Blues, coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday will counter with Jake Allen (7-7-4). St. Louis has its own share of wounded players, although Alex Steen (concussion symptoms) could make his way back into the lineup tonight.

The Winnipeg-born Steen was sidelined for two games after taking a high hit from Colorado defenceman Erik Johnson last Friday. That was just Steen’s second game back after missing six with a concussion suffered Nov. 14 in Chicago.

Blues coach Craig Berube, named the interim head coach after Mike Yeo was fired Nov. 20, said Steen is a game-time decision.

The Central Division’s cellar-dwellers will be without forwards Jaden Schwartz (undisclosed), Rob Fabri (shoulder) and blue-liners Alex Pietrangelo (hand) and Carl Gunnarsson (upper body).

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell