Morrissey gone for series

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This article was published 22/04/2023 (870 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets lost more than just a pivotal playoff hockey game in heartbreaking fashion Saturday afternoon.

All-Star defenceman Josh Morrissey is done for the rest of the series against the Vegas Golden Knights after suffering a lower-body injury just 74 seconds into his Game 3 outing. A source told the Free Press it’s related to his knee, believed to be a MCL sprain.

“He’s a top five D in this league right now. He plays all the important minutes and he’s a guy that drives the offence,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said following the 5-4 double overtime loss at Canada Life Centre.

Morrissey, 28, is coming off a career year in which he had 76 points (16 goals and 60 assists) in 78 regular-season games. Only Erik Karlsson of the San Jose Sharks had more from the blue-line. He had one assist in the first two playoff contests against Vegas.

Whether the Calgary product could return at some point later in the playoffs, should the Jets erase this 2-1 deficit in the best-of-seven and advance, is unknown.

“Too early for that,” said Bowness. “Now, when we get into next week, I’ll be able to give you a better answer. I just know he’s done for the series.”

Morrissey was hurt after colliding with Vegas blue-liner Zach Whitecloud, with their knees coming together. He slowly made his way off the ice, then briefly returned on an ensuing power play only to retreat to the dressing room.

It was a massive blow to a Jets team already without a pair of top forwards in Nikolaj Ehlers and Cole Perfetti. It also put a huge burden on the other five defencemen in the lineup, especially with the game going well beyond regulation.

“They played their hearts out. Those five guys did a phenomenal job for us. Our forwards did everything they could to help them,” said Bowness.

“When you’re down to five D that early in the game, you’re just trying to survive. You can’t worry about match-ups. Usually, you go into a game, “OK this is the pair we want here.” That goes right out the window — like, right away — because you have to rotate five. And you’ve got to play guys right and left.”

None stepped up more than Neal Pionk, who led all players in ice time with a whopping 41:08. He also assisted on all three Winnipeg goals in the third period as they erased a 4-1 deficit in dramatic fashion.

“Neal was great. Three points and did a lot of great things to help us get to where we were,” said Bowness.

Pionk, 27, also had nine shot attempts (second only to Kyle Connor’s 11), seven hits (tops on the team) and five block shots (more than anyone else as well). He wasn’t available for a post-game interview because he was on an IV to replenish lost fluids.

“Neal’s looking for a new set of legs right now, as we speak,” said Brenden Dillon, who played 30:30 and would have had more if not for a first period fight against Keegan Kolesar which cost him five minutes in the penalty box.

“We’re all gassed. But we had so much confidence, we could have played another three overtimes, with how good we felt,” he said.

Dylan DeMelo (36:31), Nate Schmidt (28:42) and Dylan Samberg (22:00) all had extremely busy days at the office.

“What a hockey game. I think we battled, we grinded,” said Dillon.

“That was a good game, by all of us back there, just getting the job done. It was a resounding feeling that we deserved better in that game. I think we can take a lot of confidence with that, with one of our best players leaving early, first shift of the game, really. I thought we got the momentum going on our side and it was an unfortunate way to lose it, but it’s a best-of-seven here.”

Logan Stanley and Kyle Capobianco are the two extra defenceman on Winnipeg’s current roster, so you assume one of those will take Morrissey’s spot. There’s also a potential wildcard of someone like Ville Heinola with the Manitoba Moose, if the Jets are looking to try to replace some of the offence they’re going to miss in Morrissey.

“We played all year long with a lot of injuries. Every team does and it’s next man up,” said Bowness. “It’s a big hole, but we played the rest of the game without him and scored four, so we’re going to have to find a way to play the rest of the series without him because this series is far from over.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg