After dropping 7-3 and 3-2 decisions at Toronto and at home to Los Angeles, respectively, to end last week, the Winnipeg Jets got a welcome boost Monday Morning with the return of Kyle Connor and Nate Schmidt for practice at Canada Life Centre.
“It gets our group excited. They came out and put some life and energy in the group,” Jets interim head coach Dave Lowry said of having Connor and Schmidt back on the ice. “You bring your most dynamic, prolific goal scorer back into your lineup, it’s going to give you a boost when you’re playing tight games, one-goal games.”
Both Connor and Schmidt tested positive for COVID-19 prior to last Wednesday’s 3-2 shootout victory in Buffalo, forcing them to miss three games each. It was made all the more frustrating by both players saying they were asymptomatic and had no idea they had contracted the virus until their test results came back.
“It’s something a lot of people have gone through on our team, throughout the league,” said Connor, who had played in all of Winnipeg’s 67 games prior to having to sit out the last three. “It’s definitely tough knowing that I probably would have never found out if we didn’t have the test. I was pretty fortunate and didn’t have any symptoms.”
Schmidt told reporters in the Matt Frost Media Centre that this is the third time since November of 2020 he has tested positive for COVID-19.
“I think I’m part of an elite group,” said the veteran defenceman. “I don’t know if you can call it the original COVID. And then the Brazilian variant. And then whatever this last one is. It’s a bummer — just stinks when you have to sit at home and watch the team play, especially down the stretch.”
Schmidt says the decision was made to travel by car back to Winnipeg right away instead of isolating in Buffalo for two or three days and then coming home on April 1, when the restrictions lifted for cross-border travel from the United States into Canada.
“You can get going right from there. At that point you’re not really thinking about anything else,” said Schmidt, who provided a few details on how all of those hours in the car were spent between the two teammates en route from Buffalo to Winnipeg. “I’m a Harry Potter audible guy, mixed it up — podcasts here and there.”
With the Jets currently six points out of a playoff spot, the odds are extremely low for extending their post-season streak to a fifth consecutive spring. One of the few bright spots would be Connor becoming the first Winnipeg 2.0 player to reach the 50-goal mark, with 41 in those first 67 games. Missing the three games last week leaves him having to score nine times over the final dozen games, seven of which are against playoff-bound teams.
“It’s obviously tough going through a little stretch where you can’t be on the ice,” said the 25-year-old right-winger, who has also set career highs this season for assists (41) and points (82).
“You can’t look at the games you missed, what could have been. You just have to focus on 12 games left as a team. If it happens, it happens. I’m focused on helping my team win every single game. I’ll take care of it that way.”
The Jets (33-27-10) begin a hectic schedule of seven games in an 11-day span from April 6 to 16 when they host the Detroit Red Wings in a 6:30 p.m. start Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre.
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