Morrissey ready to soar against Flyers

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This article was published 08/12/2018 (2464 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Josh Morrissey has seen enough from the sidelines. After being forced to watch the past two games due to a nagging injury, the top-pairing Winnipeg Jets defenceman is ready to return to action.

Morrissey expects to be a player when his team welcomes the Philadelphia Flyers to town today for a 2 p.m. start at Bell MTS Place. It’s the second game of a four-game homestand for the 17-9-2 Jets.

“Obviously, it sucks missing a couple games. But I’m feeling pretty good. Had a good skate out there today,” Morrissey said following a quick Saturday afternoon practice at Bell MTS Iceplex.

Morrissey, 23, was playing perhaps his best hockey of the season just prior to being unable to answer the bell for games Tuesday in New York against the Islanders (a 3-1 Jets win) and Friday night at home against St. Louis (a 1-0 loss) with an undisclosed lower-body issue.

“As a player, I think you want to play every single time you can. But, you’ve also gotten to this point knowing how our bodies feel, and if something doesn’t feel right or something like that, then you’ve got to be honest,” said Morrissey, who has two goals and 10 assists in 26 regular-season games.

“I think it’s something that we’ve been dealing with for a little while now. Obviously, things happen. But it definitely wasn’t feeling great, I guess, after the Ranger game (Dec. 2). From there, just couldn’t get ready to go for the Islander game and again for (Friday) night. It’s something you have to manage. Like I said, everybody’s dealing with those things. It’s something that’s kinda been there for a while and flared up a bit, I guess.”

Connor Hellebuyck will get the start in goal for the Jets, coming off two consecutive strong outings in which he’s given up just two goals on 55 shots. Winnipeg’s battered blue line got a boost Friday night when Dustin Byfuglien and Dmitry Kulikov both returned from injuries, and now Morrissey is set to join them.

“Obviously, the last two games have been really solid defensive performances,” Morrissey said of his team clamping down in their own end following a bit of a rough stretch where they were leaking goals against.

Of course, the Jets would like to get the offence going after being blanked by the Blues. They’ll face a 12-12-3 Philadelphia squad that has gone 2-0-1 in the past three games, including a 6-2 rout of the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon.

The return to health means some of the fill-ins have started going back to the farm. Nelson Nogier, who filled in for Morrissey in the game against the Islanders, was returned to the Manitoba Moose on Thursday.

“Part of the process with pro sports is there’s always injuries, there’s always going to be times where, all of a sudden, you’re called upon to go. And Noge specifically did great in that game. I was really happy for him. He’s a great guy, a great person, I was happy to see him play well,” Morrissey said.

Cam Schilling, who played four strong games with the Jets to help cover for injuries, was sent down on Saturday to make way for Morrissey’s pending return. Coach Paul Maurice sung the praises of the 30-year-old, who only had six NHL games under his belt (and none since 2015) prior to his call-up.

“There’s something more there. We thought he was a good pro, and we liked the way he played in the American Hockey League, but he doesn’t have a big body of work in the NHL. He came in and gave a real clear idea of what we’re going to get. He moved the puck quick and simple. He wasn’t afraid to make a mistake and he wasn’t out there trying to create something to impress you. He just went out and played a good pro’s game. Now we know what we get when we call him up, where we didn’t have that idea for sure,” Maurice said.

Sami Niku is likely to get bumped from the lineup with Morrissey’s return. The only remaining injured players are defenceman Joe Morrow, who skated Saturday in a non-contact jersey, and forward Andrew Copp, who did not. Both remain on injured reserve.

Copp played two games last weekend after returning from a concussion, only to have symptoms return. He will miss a third straight game today, but Maurice said it’s still not clear if it’s related to the original injury.

‘He’s in that group of guys… he’s a hockey nerd, and it’s not a derogatory term’ — Paul Maurice on defenceman Josh Morrissey

“He hasn’t felt right since (Long) Island, but he’s getting better and better, so hopefully, soon,” Maurice said. “The thing about it is, if you get into those next two or three days and you get a cold or anything of those symptoms, they can be related, but they’re not necessarily related. So you just get real conservative with it.”

As for Morrissey, Maurice said the Jets are a much better team when No. 44 is in the lineup.

“He’s in that group of guys. We’ve got the (Mark) Scheifeles of the world who watch everything. He’s a hockey nerd, and it’s not a derogatory term. He’s hockey focused, that’s probably the best way to put it. There are players who like to walk out of the rink and not see themselves play again, they just want to reset and go back forward. But you’re finding these new-age players that grow up with it as part of how they play the game. (Morrissey) is very in tune,” Maurice said.

“When you’re doing your videos and running the meetings, you’re watching the eyes and you can see the guys that have the capacity to focus through a seven- or eight-minute video stretch. He’s right there. He’s such a good pro.”

Morrissey agreed that watching the game from a different perspective — in his case, the press box, along with extra film study — can provide a helpful perspective. He’s hoping to pick right back up where he left off, taking his usual spot on the shutdown pair with Jacob Trouba.

“I felt like my game was really coming along and maybe, for me, I felt going to another level,” Morrissey said of his play just before the injury, which included two straight games of nearly 30 minutes of ice time.

“I think the hardest thing is sitting out and not being able to play and be out there with your teammates. It really does kind of suck. But, at the same time, you’ve got to take care of those injuries and those little things. Hopefully come out better for it on the other side.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg