Byfuglien in, Morrissey out as Jets take on Habs

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This article was published 07/02/2019 (2403 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL — The Winnipeg Jets are hoping Big Buff will provide a big boost to their lineup as he returns to action tonight. And they’ll need it, considering another top defenceman will be out of the lineup.

Dustin Byfuglien has missed the past 16 games with an ankle injury but will be back in his familiar spot on the blueline and anchoring the top power play unit as the Jets kick off a three-game road trip against the Montreal Canadiens.

“I think our team has way more fun when he’s in the lineup. His personality in the room is big,” coach Paul Maurice said following the morning skate at Bell Centre.

However, Winnipeg will be without the services of Josh Morrissey, who was hurt in Tuesday night’s game against San Jose while blocking a shot in the first period. Maurice said Morrissey remains day-to-day and can hopefully play Saturday afternoon in Ottawa.

“He wanted to try it (tonight), put a really good press on. But we’ve got Dustin coming back here today, we’re healthy, the foundation of Josh’s game is skating so we don’t want to put him into a position where he’s not even at 90 per cent,” said Maurice.

Connor Hellebuyck will make his fifth straight start in goal for the Jets. Nic Petan and Sami Niku are expected to be the two healthy scratches, with Morrissey joining Nikolaj Ehlers on the injured list.

Montreal has been hot lately, going 3-0-1 in the last four and 7-1-1 over the last nine. They own the first wildcard playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

“That quickness and that speed. They work real hard, but they get on the puck and stay on it,” Maurice said of what catches his eye about the Canadiens.

There will be another lineup change for the Jets tonight, as Jack Roslovic and Patrik Laine switch spots on the power play. The surging Roslovic has five goals in his past five games and will go to the top unit with Byfuglien, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor.

“He’s hot. It’s coming off his stick right. We think there’s going to be some action around the net a little bit, these guys do a nice job, at times, taking away the perimeter shot. So we think there’ll be a little more action at the net, and he’s good there,” said Maurice.

“I’ll have a hard time convincing all you fine people this, but this is the Jack Roslovic story. You get a guy who gets hot, he’s a young guy, and there’s got to be a payoff. We wanted to reward his hot streak with maybe a few more minutes.”

The slumping Laine, with no goals in his last eight games and just one in his past 15, drops down to the second power play unit, which typically gets far less time on the ice.

“I think you have a 20-year-old kid, who’s been one of the top goal scorers in the league since he’s been in the league, and when you’re used to scoring goals like he is and it doesn’t go in quite as often as you expect or as you’re used to, there’s obviously some frustration that comes with it,” Wheeler said this morning.

“The beautiful thing for him is, he’s still probably going to end up with 40 goals this year, this is going to be an afterthought and it’s going to make him a better player. Every guy in this room has been through something like this. It took me 20 games to score a goal when I came to Winnipeg, I thought they weren’t going to let me put a home sweater on after about 15 games. It’s not a lot of fun, but it builds character, it’s something you learn from, it’s going to make you better in the long run.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg