Kulikov dons contact jersey in practice, says he’s ready to play

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This article was published 07/01/2020 (2070 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Dmitry Kulikov has declared himself fit and ready to return to the Winnipeg Jets ahead of schedule from an upper-body injury that was expected to sideline the veteran until at least the NHL all-star break later this month.

“In these kind of things, you just hope for the best and prepare for the worst,” the 29-year-old defenceman said Tuesday after completing his first practice in a regular-contact jersey.

“It felt good. It felt like I’m in good shape in the last few days. I had skated in the yellow (no-contact). It’s good to put on the red jersey and practise with the team.”

Winnipeg will wrap up a four-game road trip with back-to-back games against a pair of Eastern Conference powerhouses, with the Toronto Maple Leafs up tonight and the Boston Bruins awaiting their arrival Thursday. The 23-16-4 Jets are 1-0-1 so far after a 3-2 overtime loss Saturday in Minnesota and a 3-2 victory Monday in Montreal.

“I think we have to keep it tight against these guys. We have to limit their space. Obviously, they have a lot of firepower and guys that can score goals. I think our main focus is just to keep building what we did in the last game. Play tight defensively and I think we’re going to be in good shape,” Kulikov said of the immediate challenge on the horizon.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said Kulikov was playing the best hockey of his career when he took a big hit from the Anaheim Ducks’ Carter Rowney on Nov. 29. He had been playing on the second defence pairing with Neal Pionk at the time.

“That’s flattering to hear. I thought I was playing good. We had good chemistry going with Neal there. Obviously, any time you get injured it’s unfortunate. For me I felt like it was really bad timing,” said Kulikov, who has one goal and three assists in 25 games this season.

Luca Sbisa has been skating in place of Kulikov with Pionk. Maurice said he wouldn’t automatically put Kulikov back into the same role, meaning a spot on the third pairing is most likely to ease him back into action.

That means Sami Niku or Anthony Bitetto would likely come out, joining the other healthy scratch, Carl Dahlstrom.

“Possibly an option (Wednesday). We’ll get him through his day here and see where he’s at. I’m not sure that I’m putting him into a back-to-back coming off that injury. But he may be a player for us in one of the next two,” said Maurice.

“Some of it would be the health of the other defencemen, too. It might take a shift, it might take a period, it might not happen and we just kind of get him out there and get him into a game and see how he’s doing. That’s some pretty significant time that he’s missed. If he’s feeling right, there was some good chemistry there, I thought.”

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Four players — Sbisa, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Josh Morrissey — did not take part in Tuesday’s skate. Maurice said he expects all of them to suit up against the Maple Leafs, who defeated Winnipeg 6-3 last week at Bell MTS Place.

In the case of Scheifele, he may be a little sore after taking a Patrik Laine one-timer to the midsection during Monday’s game against the Canadiens. Winnipeg’s No. 1 centre was down on the ice for a bit but managed to skate off on his own power and didn’t miss a shift.

“That was going bar-down and he just blocked it. Kinda pissed off that he blocked it. He probably wanted that goal for himself,” Laine joked Tuesday. “No, he made a good screen in front of the net. Unfortunate that it hits him, but he’ll be fine, he’s a tough guy. He can take it. Thank God I don’t have a heavy shot.”

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A decision on where David Gustafsson goes next is on hold, at least for now.

The 19-year-old, who helped Sweden capture a bronze medal at the world juniors, had been loaned out by the Jets after skating in 22 games, in which he scored his first NHL goal.

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff revealed last week there are three options for Gustafsson: returning to the Jets, being assigned to the Manitoba Moose or being assigned to his club team in Europe.

Maurice said those discussions will happen shortly.

“I’m really happy with his world juniors. He (suffered) a minor injury in the last game, nothing significant. They’re going to let him rest and then Kevin (Cheveldayoff) and his agent are going to sort out what the next step is.”

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There was plenty of buzz in the Jets locker room Tuesday about Connor McDavid’s latest goal. The Edmonton Oilers star undressed Toronto defenceman Morgan Rielly and then beat Maple Leafs goalie Michael Hutchinson on Monday night.

“That was pretty cool. Pretty cool. One of the few guys who can make that move look pretty easy. It was a great goal. It’s going to be in the highlight reels for a long time,” said Laine, who scored a goal against Toronto last week by blowing past Rielly.

Kulikov said it’s almost impossible to defend against the kind of elite speed and skill McDavid possesses.

“That can happen to anybody. He’s such a high talent, you see him do it almost on a nightly basis. Obviously you might think it’s stoppable and then he does something else,” he said.

“That was something out of this world. It was one of the best goals I’ve seen.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg