The Winnipeg Jets have built an eight-game winning streak on the strength of their scoring depth.
They could be even stronger up front coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break with the return of captain Adam Lowry. He expects to play Saturday night when the Jets visit the St. Louis Blues, according to Jets coach Scott Arniel.
Lowry missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury.
“It’s made it a little easier sitting out knowing that the guys are playing as well as they are,” Lowry said. “To see the strides we’re making, to see some key wins … it’s been great.
“I don’t wanna come back into the lineup and (for) things to change, but I’m really excited to hopefully be back.”
Lowry had 11 goals and 15 assists in his first 48 games. He is one of eight Jets forwards who have produced double-digit goal totals this season.
Mark Scheifele leads the Jets with 31 goals and Kyle Connor has scored 30.
“That’s been a big part of our success, it’s not just one line that we’ve been relying on every night,” Arniel said. “There’s nights where (Scheifele’s) line gets shut down by the opposite checkers or they’re having a tough night, then it’s Vladdy (Namestnikov’s) line that steps up or it’s Lowry’s line that steps in and gives us some offense.”
Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey is questionable for this game after missing Thursday night’s USA-Canada 4 Nations Face-Off game with an illness.
Connor was a healthy scratch for the U.S. in that game. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck played for the U.S., so Eric Comrie may start in his place in St. Louis.
While the Jets rolled into the schedule break on a winning streak, the Blues went 2-5-1 in their last eight games. One large issue has been their penalty kill, which ranks third-worst in the NHL with 71.3 percent efficiency.
The Blues are trying to fix that coming out of the break.
“We’re really focusing on running straight lines, knowing our responsibilities in the diamond, knowing our responsibilities when it resets below the top of the circles,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “And then the stops and starts, when one guy goes, the other guys got to anticipate that next pass and get there, and the stick positioning that goes with it.”
Since Jordan Binnington started in goal for Canada in the 4 Nations final on Thursday, the Blues will likely start Joel Hofer in the first of back-to-back games this weekend. St. Louis hosts Colorado on Sunday.
Defenseman Colton Parayko also played for Canada Thursday, so at the very least his practice workload will be reduced.
“We’re going to have to look to definitely give them more rest,” Montgomery said. “They’re going to have to play games for us, we know that. But if we’re coming in, maybe we tell them to stay home a couple days so that they can regenerate the batteries because not only have they not had the break that we all had, but they’re playing real intense (games).”
–Field Level Media
