Laine expected back in Jets lineup tonight against Buffalo

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This article was published 03/03/2020 (2018 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Patrik Laine is back.

The Winnipeg Jets sniper blocked a shot that took him out of last Thursday’s 3-0 win over the Washington Capitals. He also missed Saturday’s 3-2 road loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

Laine was a full participant in this morning’s skate and will be in the lineup tonight at Bell MTS Place (7 p.m., TSN3, TSN 1290) when the Jets line up against the Buffalo Sabres.

“The expectation is that he plays, so we’ll get him through the warmup, but we expect he plays tonight,” said head coach Paul Maurice.

Mathieu Perreault has shed the yellow non-contact jersey he’s been wearing; however, it’s expected he will miss a 16th consecutive game and is listed as day-to-day.

Maurice also provided an update on Adam Lowry, saying the centre should be ready for contact in the next two or three days.

“Both of those injuries are upper body, so they’ve been able to skate. There’s not a conditioning concern on their injuries,” said Maurice.

Forward Mark Letestu, who has missed 60 games due to a heart virus, was also upgraded to a full participant this morning. Letestu told the media the inflammation in his heart is gone and that he no longer has any training restrictions.

“He’s cleared to play, but like those guys I mentioned in the gold, they’ve been skating and all that. He’s on the opposite end of that turnaround spectrum because his heart rate has been held very, very low for six months, so 30 minutes yesterday felt like a day of training camp for him. It’s going to be a while before he can go back to being a player,” Maurice said.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31