Getting the band back together
Wait, is that Nikolaj Ehlers on the ice at Hockey For All Centre?
Although it's merely the next step in the recovery process for the Winnipeg Jets winger, the fact the speedy forward was out for a twirl with strength and conditioning coach Jake Wolff was a positive development for Ehlers.
After the Jets hit the ice to prepare for a pivotal Game 5 in this deadlocked series with the St. Louis Blues, head coach Scott Arniel revealed that Ehlers had been on the ice multiple times over the past several days, though he wasn't sure how many.
'We were away, so he's been on the ice,' said Arniel.
Matt Slocum / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Jets' Nikolaj Ehlers has been skating while the team was on the road in St. Louis.
Matt Slocum / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Jets' Nikolaj Ehlers has been skating while the team was on the road in St. Louis.
Does this mean Ehlers has been upgraded from week-to-week to day-to-day?
Not exactly.
'He'll be on the ice (Wednesday) with us, and in a yellow (jersey),' said Arniel.
Ehlers has been dealing with a lower-body injury he aggravated in Game 80 against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 12 and his absence has clearly been felt in this series, both at even strength — with the second line still searching for its first goal — and on the power play, where the Jets are two-for-12 (16.7 per cent).
While it seems unlikely — though not impossible — that Ehlers could progress enough over the next few days to be an option for Game 6 or Game 7, the fact he's back on the ice suggests he could return to action at some point in the second round if the Jets advance.
Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo shed some light on the illness that made him a late scratch for Game 3 of this series in Missouri.
'Pretty sick, pretty sick. I couldn't keep anything down, couldn't keep anything in,' said DeMelo. 'That's the PG version of what I'll give you. It floored me for a few days and I was obviously good enough to play Game 4 and I'm feeling good now.'
DeMelo took the morning skate on Thursday and then things got progressively worse over the course of the afternoon.
'I was feeling good in Game 2. It was afterward,' said DeMelo. 'Didn't practice (on Wednesday) and that was why. I was feeling a little under the weather. Tried the morning skate and was feeling OK, but then that afternoon came and went and took me out with it.'
DeMelo did his best to catch part of the Jets-Blues Game 3 on TV back at the team hotel but he couldn't make it through its entirety.
Connor Hamilton / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Winnipeg Jets' Dylan DeMelo (2) was back for Game 4 in the series with the St. Louis Blues after missing Game 3 with an illness.
Connor Hamilton / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Winnipeg Jets' Dylan DeMelo (2) was back for Game 4 in the series with the St. Louis Blues after missing Game 3 with an illness.
'I got through a period and a half because obviously it was super late and went right to bed,' said DeMelo. 'As much as I wanted to watch, I wasn't doing any help, watching and staying up late. So, I went to bed and got as much sleep as I could.'
DeMelo had to be careful to distance himself from his teammates, for fear of the virus spreading.
'I was treating it like I was in isolation,' he said. 'I didn't leave my room. I would bring what I could eat to the room. That room might be off limits for a little bit for the next people who are coming in there. You just try to stay away and hopefully everyone's in the clear.'
During Game 4, DeMelo was back alongside defence partner Josh Morrissey and finished the contest with 30 shifts for just under 22 minutes of ice time.
DeMelo finished the game with four hits, four blocked shots, three shots on goal and nine shot attempts in his return.
'I was good enough to play and (my) energy levels were a little low, but I was in so I felt I could contribute in the type of fashion I usually do,' he said.
One of the biggest things the Blues were able to do in Games 3 and 4 were to generate goals involving the defence corps, specifically with shots from the point through screens or deflections in front.
What can the Jets' wingers do to try and limit the offence that is being generated by the opponent on that front?
'You've got to be aware,' said Jets left-winger Kyle Connor. 'First and foremost, you've got to protect the slot. When it's down low, they like to look there first, so if you're the strong-side or weak-side winger, you've got to have your head on a swivel. You've got to know where your D-man is at. But also be aware of their guy in the slot.
Frank Franklin II / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
Winnnipeg Jets winger Kyle Connor: "You've got to know where your D-man is at. But also be aware of their guy in the slot."
Frank Franklin II / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
Winnnipeg Jets winger Kyle Connor: "You've got to know where your D-man is at. But also be aware of their guy in the slot."
'Everybody has kind of got little two-on-one matchups, all throughout the ice in the D-zone. You've got to constantly have your head on a swivel. But once it gets to the point, you've got to be in the shot lane and we don't want to allow them to carry the puck into the high slot. You've got to shut that off as a winger, so that's a big stressing point that we've talked about and watched video on.'
In Game 4 alone, the Blues' blue-liners were involved in four of the five goals scored — point shots from Tyler Tucker (on the game-winner) and Justin Faulk (that went in off the pants of Jets defenceman Neal Pionk), Jake Neighbours's tip-in that came off a Colton Parayko knuckle-puck from the point and the goal by Brayden Schenn that came after a nifty rush by Parayko.
Nick Leddy and Cam Fowler also chipped in assists, giving the Blues' defence corps six points in Game 4.
Combine that with the five-point effort from Fowler in Game 3 and the power-play goal from Parayko, and the Blues got eight points in those two games — after combining for four in the first two games (with two helpers apiece from Fowler and Faulk).
The Jets pride themselves on producing offence from the defence corps as well, but they've been limited to two assists for Josh Morrissey, one goal from Pionk and one helper each from Luke Schenn, Dylan Samberg and DeMelo.
Increasing that production is one area that could help tip the scales as the Jets try and take momentum back from the Blues.
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The Blues skated in St. Louis before flying to Winnipeg and both Brayden Schenn and Robert Thomas skipped the workout for maintenance, though they're expected to be ready for Game 5.
Thomas has generated two goals and six points while anchoring the top line, while Schenn has been a physical force and had a goal and an assist in Game 4 to record his first points of the series.
Blues head coach Jim Montgomery confirmed that Tucker wouldn't be available for Game 5 after suffering a lower-body injury during an awkward play in the corner with Jets forward Brandon Tanev.
That opens the door for veteran D-man Ryan Suter to return after he was a healthy scratch during the past two games.
'I've got to say it was hard to do when you respect the player so much and what he's done in the league for years, and how much he's helped us this year,' Montgomery told reporters in St. Louis.
'You make a decision and you live with it. He's a pro, and I know he's going to be good for us. It was just a gut feel, and putting him back in, we're getting our No. 1 penalty-killing defenceman back in.'
ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca
X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld
Ken WiebeReporter
Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.
Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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