Lowry’s wait almost over

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This article was published 01/11/2017 (2872 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With his teammates on a red-hot run, Adam Lowry is itching to get in on the action.

The big centre won’t have to wait much longer. Lowry was a full participant in Wednesday’s optional Winnipeg Jets practice, shedding his yellow no-contact jersey for nearly an hour of hard skating and battle drills.

Lowry has been out of the lineup since aggravating a nagging upper-body injury Oct. 12 in Vancouver. While he’ll miss an eighth-straight game tonight when Winnipeg hosts the Dallas Stars, he’s targeting Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens for his return.

“I felt good. I think that any time you’re hurt you want to be out there. Sometimes it takes a little longer than you expected. But it’s nice to finally get some contact again, get battling. I’m starting to feel good. I feel like I’m getting close,” Lowry said following Wednesday’s skate. “I’m excited. It’s nice that the team’s playing well. It makes it a little bit easier. Hopefully they’re going to continue that, and I’ll be able to jump in and we’ll just keep going from where we’re at right now.”

Therein lies the problem for Jets head coach Paul Maurice, albeit a good one to have. With a key player such as Lowry set to return, who comes out of the lineup for a team that has just one regulation loss in its past nine games (6-1-2)?

Andrew Copp has been centring the Jets’ third line, but Lowry’s return to that spot will likely move Copp to a bottom-six wing position, where he’ll be competing for ice time with the likes of Shawn Matthias, Brandon Tanev, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux and Marko Dano.

Lowry has had a birds-eye view of his team from the press box, and believes strong goaltending and attention to defensive detail have been the big improvements.

“I think the biggest thing you notice from up top is just how well we’re defending right now. We’re giving up some shots, but a lot of them are from the outside. If they’re getting good chances, we’re getting sticks on their sticks or sticks on pucks and causing them to miss the net. And when they do get their chances, our goalies have been there,” he said.

Lowry remains on injured reserve. Once he’s activated, the Jets will have to make a roster move to remain at the 23-player limit.

The logical choice would be to send rookie defenceman Tucker Poolman to the Manitoba Moose, to give him some playing time. He’s only dressed for three of the team’s 11 games this season, with his last action coming Oct. 17. He’s currently one of eight healthy defencemen on the roster. Poolman doesn’t have to pass through waivers.

“He’s an older player but he’s waiverable, and that tells you that he doesn’t have a lot of pro experience yet. But I would say that about any of the players that are waiverable. We won’t let them sit too, too long before they got to get some games,” Maurice said Wednesday, when asked about Poolman’s status.

“He’s the first guy on the right side (as an injury replacement) for sure. I’ll just leave it at that. I don’t think it needs to go too, too much longer. We’ve got to get him into a hockey game.”

Lowry wouldn’t reveal specifics about his injury, only to say it wasn’t a concussion.

“It kind of happened almost on a practice day. I was able to get through the game in Vancouver, and it just didn’t settle down like we thought it would. It kind of just lingered. It was just one of those things where it didn’t progress as quickly as we hoped,” said Lowry. “It kind of lingered on. Initially, we thought it was only going to be a couple days, a couple games, and here we are at seven games going on eight (Thursday). But I’m happy with the way it’s coming along. I don’t think there’s going to be any long-term effects or anything like that.”

Only 11 skaters, and goalie Steve Mason, participated in Wednesday’s practice, which took place less than 12 hours after the Jets returned on a late-night flight after beating the Minnesota Wild 2-1. Winnipeg is in the midst of a stretch of playing seven games in 12 days, so Maurice said it’s important to monitor energy levels.

Winnipeg will face a tough challenge in the Stars, who come into town at 7-5-0, and with plenty of firepower from the likes of Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov. They’ve also been getting terrific goaltending from free-agent signing Ben Bishop, as new coach Ken Hitchcock looks to tap into their potential.

“They’re trying to play a better defensive hockey game, and I think they’re dialed into that. They got some good, high-end skill and speed up front. They got some good size, and now they got some real good goaltending. Pretty similar,” Maurice said.

“It’s always (got) the potential for a real exciting game. I think, probably, both teams are hopeful it can be real exciting and played well at the same time, which would be a change from last year.”

Winnipeg is off to a 2-0-0 start within their division this season, with both wins coming against Minnesota.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg