Copp ‘not feeling great’ after weekend return from concussion, Lemieux draws in

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This article was published 04/12/2018 (2468 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Andrew Copp returned from a concussion on the weekend but won’t play tonight when the Winnipeg Jets face the New York Islanders at Barclays Center.

Copp missed three games in late November after he took a huge check Nov. 23 along the boards from Minnesota’s J.T. Brown and struck his head on the divider by the Winnipeg bench.

“He’s not feeling great so we’ll hold him out,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “He’ll get looked at when he gets back. He felt fine, played great, just didn’t feel good (Monday), so we’ll hold him out.”

Copp scored just his second goal of the year Saturday night in Newark as the Jets downed the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime.

Brendan Lemieux takes his spot tonight and will play with either Adam Lowry and Brandon Tanev or with Jack Roslovic and Mason Appleton if Maurice moves Mathieu Perreault up to skate on the Lowry line.

And that will depend on how Islanders coach Barry Trotz matches lines tonight, Maurice said.

Goalie Connor Hellebuyck gets his second consecutive start for Winnipeg (16-8-2). He was between the pipes at Madison Square Garden Sunday as the Jets overcame a three-goal deficit after two periods to defeat the New York Rangers 4-3 in a shootout. Hellebuyck was tested just 19 times over 65 minutes and then stopped two of three Rangers in the shootout.

“We’re always trying to find where our confidence level is, where our goalie is, but Connor made a really good save at the end of the second (period) and a really good glove save (in the third), and then shuts the door in a shootout. So, he should be feeling good, he’s feeling rested, so we want to get him back in,” Maurice said.

The Islanders (13-9-3) are coming off an emotional comeback victory of their own, a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday at their old barn, Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. It was the team’s first game at Nassau — the home to the legendary Islanders championship squads of the early 1980s — since the club moved to Brooklyn in 2015.

The club is splitting home games between the two buildings this season. Nassau is undergoing a nearly US$170-million makeover.

Meanwhile, Jets defenceman Dmitry Kulikov (upper body) skated for the first time in a regular red jersey and is close to returning to the lineup. Medical clearance could come Friday. Blue-liners Dustin Byfuglien and Joe Morrow did not make the trip.

That means AHL callup Sami Niku partners with Ben Chiarot again, while another Manitoba Moose regular, Cam Schilling, plays with Tyler Myers. The top duo of Josh Morrissey and Jacob Trouba stays intact.

Myers played a season-high 28 minutes, 10 seconds against the Rangers and, except for hand-delivering a glorious scoring chance to New York’s Vinni Lettieri that Hellebuyck stopped, put in one of his best performances of what has been an up-and-down campaign.

“Really, really well,” Maurice said, assessing Myers’ big-minute game. “I would say all four of those (veteran) defenceman, we know they can play more. It’s the luxury we have when everyone’s healthy that we keep the minutes down. So, they’re enjoying the extra playing time, for sure.”

The Jets host the St. Louis Blues Friday night.

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell