Lowry to miss one game

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This article was published 28/11/2014 (3958 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BOSTON — The Winnipeg Jets will be a little thin down the middle against the Boston Bruins after rookie centre Adam Lowry has been suspended for one game by the NHL.

Lowry was nailed for his boarding penalty on Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta in Wednesday’s 2-1 victory and picked up a five-minute major and game misconduct. The NHL’s department of player safety conducted a hearing with Lowry Thursday before making the announcement.

Lowry forfeits $4,453.41 in salary, with the money going to the NHL Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

The suspension could leave the Jets short-handed at centre for tonight’s game against the Bruins, although centre Mathieu Perreault did skate at an optional practice at Boston University this afternoon.

Perreault left Tuesday’s victory over Columbus with a suspected shoulder injury after a hit and did not play against the Sabres.

“I felt pretty good,” said Perreault Thursday.

“I was able to take some shots and stuff so we’ll see how it feels (Friday). It felt not bad today so hopefully tomorrow will be even better. I tried a few things… took faceoffs, shots, little battles along the boards and it felt not too bad. I recovered pretty quick, faster than I thought.

“I’d like to play. If I feel like I can play then I’d like to be in the lineup.”

Perreault had just begun to find a bit of an offensive groove (two goals, one assist in the three games before Columbus) when he pulled up lame against the Blue Jackets and was being featured prominently in the new ‘umbrella’ look on the power-play that has yielded two man-advantage goals in the last two games.

“You always want to be on the ice and play,” said Perreault. “It’s never fun to sit on the sideline and watch so as fast as I can get back will be good… especially because we’ve got four days after that (between games).”

After Friday’s game the Jets return home but don’t play again until Wednesday against Edmonton.

The club still has an extra forward in T.J. Galiardi, who is with the team after clearing waivers on Wednesday.

If the Jets do need to dip into the farm for help, the St. John’s IceCaps are on the road nearby. They rallied in a come-from-behind 4-3 shootout victory over the Binghamton Senators in Maine on Wednesday and next play Saturday in Wilkes-Barre.

NOTABLE: Winnipeg is 8-3-2 vs. the Eastern Conference, with all three of the losses against Atlantic Division opponents… Bryan Little has opened the scoring in three straight games, a Thrashers/Jets franchise record. The last NHL player to accomplish this feat is Boston’s Patrice Bergeron, who scored the game-opening goal on March 18, 21 and 22 of last spring.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait