WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets will likely have to continue their drive to the post-season without Mathieu Perreault, while Drew Stafford is considered day-to-day.
Both forwards were injured in Winnipeg’s 5-4 shootout win over Edmonton on Monday.
READ MORE: Wheeler scores in SO as Jets edge Oilers
Head coach Paul Maurice said Perreault had a “significant lower body injury.”
“We would be hopeful that he’ll return by the end of the regular season,” Maurice said after practice on Wednesday. “If he does, it won’t be much sooner than that.”
That means Winnipeg will have to continue its playoff push without Perreault, a key forward. The Jets entered Wednesday’s games holding down the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference, six points up on ninth-place Los Angeles.
Maurice said Stafford is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and will skate before Winnipeg’s game in Washington on Thursday.
READ MORE: Winnipeg Jets coverage on GlobalNews.ca
The Jets recalled forward Carl Klingberg from St. John’s of the American Hockey League and moved Dustin Byfuglien from defence to forward for Wednesday’s practice.
Maurice said a decision on where Byfuglien plays against Washington will be made after Thursday’s skate and will depend on Stafford’s availability.
Perreault has 18 goals and 18 assists in 56 games this season, including a four-goal game in an 8-2 rout of Florida on Jan. 13.
Stafford has 10 goals and 15 assists in 53 games, with a goal in three games since Winnipeg acquired the forward in the trade that sent Evander Kane to Buffalo.
READ MORE: Winnipeg Jets deal Kane, Bogosian to Buffalo Sabres
Comments