Jets' injury list grows longer with Hendricks, Tanev set to miss time

WINNIPEG - Fifty-three games in, the Winnipeg Jets have now lost 128 man games due to injury.
The good news is that Mark Scheifele is nearing a return and Dustin Byfuglien is back to his usual self after missing 12 games earlier this year, but they just can't shake the injury bug.
With Jacob Trouba (upper body, six-to-eight weeks), Adam Lowry (upper body, day-to-day), Steve Mason (concussion, day-to-day) and Shawn Matthias (upper body, day-to-day) already out, two others - Matt Hendricks and Brandon Tanev - have now joined them in sick bay following Saturday's game against the Colorado Avalanche.
Yet the Jets keep winning.

"It's kind of that time of year. Stuff starts to take its toll on you," said second-line centre Bryan Little. "It's the toughest part of the season right now and it's gotten faster and more physical out there. It's testing our depth right now and so far, this year, we've been able to step up with guys out of the lineup. It's just something we're going to have to live with."
Hendricks went down early in the first period Saturday and is officially day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Tanev, meanwhile, left the game late in the third period after colliding with Colorado defenceman Tyson Barrie. His upper-body injury will keep him out a bit longer and is considered week-to-week.

Scheifele, on the other hand, was cleared for full contact on Monday and took part of his first full practice with a regular blue jersey on instead of the non-contact yellow. This is great news for the Jets, even though Blake Wheeler's move to the middle in Scheifele's absence has turned out pretty well.
While the Jets have been fortunate not to have had the amount of injuries the Anaheim Ducks (252 man games) or Buffalo Sabres (232) have endured, the quality of players they have been missing at various points this season have been significant to say the least.
Since Scheifele, their No, 1 centre, suffered his upper-body injury back on Dec. 27, the Jets have gone an incredible 10-2-3. That success has them on top of the Central Division, two points up on second place Nashville and three clear of the St. Louis Blues.

"Luckily Wheels has been able to step up and play really well in that position," Little said. "If we didn't have him in there we might be in real trouble. … We're lucky that we're getting Scheifs back soon."
Late Monday, the Jets recalled forwards Pic Petan and Brendan Lemieux from the Manitoba Moose, giving them 12 healthy forwards available to them for Tuesday's game against the Arizona Coyotes.
Rookie defenceman Tucker Poolman took a regular turn at forward during Monday's practice and was a possibility to dress in a fourth-line role, but that experiment appears to be over. The 24-year-old has yet to play up front at the professional level, but does has some experience wing, having played there as a freshman with the University of North Dakota back in 2014-15.

With another two-day break following Tuesday's contest, Maurice wasn't overly concerned about dressing 11 forwards and running guys a bit harder, but…
"The real challenge there is you're going to end up using guys you'd prefer not to run hard on your penalty kill," he said. "I'm thinking of Little and Wheeler, especially up front. We get (Scheifele) back, that'll help for St. Louis. You can survive it by staying out of the penalty box."
Petan, who played in six games with the Jets earlier this season, is second on the Moose with 41 points (12G, 29A) and his 29 assists are the most on the team. Lemieux, meanwhile, was recalled to the NHL for the first time in late October, appeared in eight games and scored his first NHL goal in a 7-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 29.
The Jets and Coyotes are playing for the third and final time this season and while Winnipeg has beaten Arizona both times by a combined score of 8-2, no one is expecting it to be an east night, especially with the players missing from the home lineup.
"It's the same game we played two months ago," Maurice said. "Those are hard games; they're physical. (They) play a simple game, but pretty darn direct and they're going to force you to skate and move the puck quick."
- Jamie Thomas, WinnipegJets.com