FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: There’s no replacing Gabe Vilardi, who has truly fit like a glove on the top line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor. But Alex Iafallo is going to do his best to try to soften the blow of losing Vilardi to injury, as proven by his performance on Friday night.
The versatile veteran scored two big goals — one at even strength to open the scoring, and another on the power play to break the game open — and you really couldn’t ask for much more.
We tried to get a bit more information after Saturday’s practice about Vilardi’s status as he deals with an undisclosed upper-body injury suffered late in the third period of last Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres to begin this four-game homestand. Arniel didn’t exactly provide much clarity when asked if he had a timeline for a potential return.
“No. Not really. I don’t. It’s not clean and whatever. It’s not one of those ones where it’s an automatic four-to-six (weeks),” the bench boss began. “Where he is, it’s week-to-week. He’s a ways away. He’s a ways away from even trying to get into the weight room right now. He’s more on just getting better.”
I’m not sure what to make of that, but with 20 days until the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs it’s fair to wonder whether Vilardi will be ready. Until then, the hope is Iafallo — who is now four goals away from matching his career high — can keep filling in admirably.
Speaking of career highs, both Scheifele (four points) and Connor (five points) are within striking distance of hitting theirs. Vilardi had already surpassed his prior to going down.
Things sounded a bit more optimistic regarding defenceman Neal Pionk, who will miss an eighth straight game today with a lower-body injury.
“He’s doing a lot more off-ice, weight room type stuff. He’s getting closer. A lot closer,” said Arniel.
I fully expect Pionk to return by the end of the regular-season.
Forward Rasmus Kupari remains day-to-day and will miss a second straight game, and I really liked how David Gustafsson looked stepping into his spot on the fourth line Friday. Not only did he score a nice goal early in the game, he was strong on the wall, won plenty of puck battles and had some other solid chances. It’s yet another example of the “next man up” mentality that good teams need to have.
KEN SAYS: Connor Hellebuyck wasn’t ready to dig too deep into his feelings about the M-V-P chants that serenaded him on Friday night when asked about it, other than saying how appreciative he was to have the support of the local fan base. What seems apparent is that Hellebuyck is deserving of Hart Trophy votes and this final stretch will ultimately determine just how high he reaches. So far, he’s looking like a safe choice to be a finalist along with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, with Quinn Hughes of the Canucks among those others still under consideration — though his candidacy will be diminished if Vancouver finishes out of the playoffs.
Vancouver Canucks’ Nils Hoglander, back from left to right, Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson celebrate Hoglander’s goal against Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck as Dylan DeMelo (2), Dylan Samberg (54) and Nino Niederreiter (62) look on, during the first period of the March 18 game. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press files)
Hellebuyck also joked with reporters about doing the “Gangnam Style” dance that accompanies his shutout song. All to say that Hellebuyck currently finds himself in a good place these days. Hellebuyck figures to be making his 56th start and 57th appearance of the season. He’s well on his way to finishing with north of 62 starts, but he’s also benefited from getting pockets of rest to stay sharp. Hellebuyck wouldn’t have liked the way things went in giving up five goals to the Canucks in the last meeting, but he had an individual session with goalie coach Wade Flaherty upon returning home after the road trip and he’s been razor sharp since that time.
Now up to a franchise-record seven shutout for the season, you can be sure Hellebuyck is going to be up for the showdown with Thatcher Demko, who has been limited to 19 games so far this season yet posted two massive victories for his team last week against the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders as the Canucks try to stay in the playoff race.
Although he’s continued to be highly productive, it was important for Scheifele to find the back of the net on the rebound chance off the end boards as he continues his push towards 40 and beyond (he’s up to 36 for the season).
Lowry, who turned 32 on Saturday, had a glorious chance to equal his career-high for goals in the third period but he was robbed by Jake Allen after a dazzling rush and setup from Nikolaj Ehlers. Lowry has gone eight games without a goal, with one assist during the stretch, but he contributes in other ways, like his big hit on Devils defenceman Johnathan Kovacevic.
The Canucks needed more from right-winger Brock Boeser down the stretch, and the former University of North Dakota sniper has provided that lately. Dating back to the last meeting between these two teams (when he had two goals and an assist to snap a 12-game goalless drought), Boeser has six goals and eight points during the past eight games.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
- Ehlers-Lowry-Appleton
- Niederreiter-Namestnikov-Perfetti
- Gustafsson-Barron-Tanev
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Schenn
- Stanley-Miller
GOAL:
Healthy scratches: D Fleury, D Heinola
Injured: D Pionk (lower body), RW Vilardi (upper body), C Kupari (undisclosed)
VANCOUVER CANUCKS
FORWARDS:
- DeBrusk-Suter-Boese
- O’Connor-Blueger-Garland
- Joshua-Raty-Sherwood
- Karlsson-Aman-Lekkerimaki
DEFENCE:
- Hughes-Hronek
- M. Pettersson-Myers
- Forbert-E.Pettersson
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: C Sasson, D Mancini
INJURED: C E Pettersson (undisclosed), C Chytil (concussion), LW Hoglander (undisclosed), D Juulsen (hernia)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo on the last outing against Vancouver still being a relatively fresh wound:
“We felt we had a bit of a stinker in their barn, and we are looking to get another crack at them here to show we are better than that. And continue to build on our overall game in the last stretch here.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken has the game story today, while Mike will write a sidebar based on what goes on at the downtown rink. You can find both pieces in Monday’s print edition and online at winnipegfreepress.com.
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