Jets coach optimistic Byfuglien will be ready for game tonight

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This article was published 16/03/2016 (3547 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets will have the yet another chance to string three consecutive wins together for the first time this season when they take on the Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome (9 p.m., TSN3, TSN 1290) tonight in Calgary.

The Jets (29-35-5) are coming off a pair of wins against the Colorado Avalanche and most recently a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks Monday night. It’s the ninth time this season Winnipeg has won two straight, with the previous eight times resulting in a loss in that third game.

Although the season is all but lost for the Jets, winger Drew Stafford has liked what he’s seen from the group the last week and hopes it will continue as the Jets play their final 13 games of the season.

“You look at the last couple of games, our back pressure has been great – our pace and our aggressiveness on how we’re getting on the puck – it makes things pretty tough for the other team,” Stafford told reporters. “That leads to offensive chances and we’ve been putting the puck in the net as well, so, pretty much the same formula (tonight).”

With a number of the regulars to the Jets’ lineup currently out, most notably centreman Bryan Little, who sustained a season-ending neck injury in a game against Tampa Bay last month, a bright spot for the Jets of late has been the emergence of centreman Mark Scheifele.

Since taking over for Little on the team’s No.1 line – a trio that includes wingers Stafford and Blake Wheeler – Scheifele has continued to mark up the stat sheet, scoring 11 goals and 19 points in his last 13 games.

“We know Mark’s a good player and we eventually see him developing into that No.1 centre that plays against the other team’s best,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice, “but when Bryan is in the lineup and you’re trying to win every night, that’s the job Bryan gets.”

“The offence has been really good, clearly. He played two nights ago a game against Colorado and (Avs centreman Matt) Duchene, which was as fine a game that I think he’s played, and that includes the hat-trick game (Mar. 5 vs. Montreal) because he was really good at both ends. He was hard down low, he made good, hard underneath plays and scored, so, there’s steps in the right direction with him.”

Defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, who missed Monday’s game with the flu, was a full participant in the morning skate and Maurice was optimistic when discussing the return of his all-star the blue-liner to the lineup tonight.

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“We’re hopeful of that,” said Maurice. “We’ve had a couple of setbacks in the last little while where a guy felt good and kind of relapsed but if he feels as good tonight as he did this morning he’ll be a player for us.”

As for the Flames (29-35-5), they welcome the Jets to town for the fifth game of a six-game homestand – a stretch of games where Calgary has earned points in three of the first four, including a convincing 7-4 win over the St. Louis Blues on Monday where Michael Frolik, a former member of the Jets, recorded his second career hat trick with two of the three goals coming while short-handed.

It’s the third and final matchup between these two clubs this season, with each team earning a win each, both of which were earned on home ice.

“We’re both going to do the same things here, we’re going to go out and both teams are going to work real hard,” added Maurice. “You look at their record the last five games and they beat good teams and played well and we’re going to try and do that too.”

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

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