Vilardi out 4-6 weeks with MCL sprain

Wednesday afternoon the Winnipeg Jets held practice at hockey for all centre without Gabe Vilardi and Mason Appleton.

Vilardi went down in the first period of last night’s 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on just the third shift against his former team. The 24-year-old fell awkwardly to the ice with Blake Lizotte and did not return. Rick Bowness delivered the bad news that the Jets will be without Vilardi for four to six weeks with an MCL sprain in his knee.

“I feel terrible for him. Listen, he’s a big part of our team. He was on the number one line, number one power play and he looked good doing it,” said Bowness after today’s skate.

“He worked very hard all summer. He was a really good fit for KC (Kyle Connor) and Mark (Scheifele), it’s unfortunate that happened. He’s had a tough time with injuries. Hopefully this is it for this year and he comes back and is a major contributor as the season goes on.”

With the absence of Vilardi and Appleton at practice today there was some reconfiguring of the lines.

LINE RUSHES (with no Vilardi and Appleton)

Connor-Scheifele-Kupari

Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti

Iafallo-Lowry-Niederreiter

Barron-Gustafsson-Chisholm (filling in)

Morrissey-DeMelo

Dillon-Pionk

Samberg-Schmidt

Stanley rotating in

Appleton was taking a maintenance day and Bowness is hoping he can play tomorrow against Vegas. There is a possibility that Appleton will move to the right side with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.

Meanwhile, Cole Perfetti, who is ok after taking a questionable hit from Andreas Englund last night, moves to the wing on the second line. Vladislav Namestnikov takes over at centre, Nikolaj Ehlers will be on the other wing.

“They had good chemistry last year. We’re not creating enough offence with the second line, we’re just not. It might look flashy at times but there is no consistent offence coming from that line,” said Bowness.

“So Vladdy and Nik had good chemistry last year, so we are going to give that a go.”

STICKING UP FOR ONE ANOTHER

After Perfetti took that hit from Englund, Dylan Samberg came to his aid and scrapped with the Kings defenceman. Just over two minutes after the hit, Perfetti got into it with Matt Roy and a scrum ensued. Mark Scheifele engaged with Lizotte and

“That’s kind of a thing. We’re a family, stick together. Sammy there, sticks up for me there and fights a guy. You know, you hate having to have a guy fight for you, but you appreciate it. That goes a long way, that you know your teammates, your brothers are going to stick up for you and make sure no one takes a cheap shot without having a couple repercussions,” said Perfetti after the game last night.

“I think that’s great for our team. There’s a lot of guys in here that are willing to step up for one another. It shows how tight we are and just really appreciate when guys do that.”

LB FACES FORMER TEAM

Ordinarily, it is Rick Bowness who tells the media who his starting goaltender is but that was not the case at hockey for all centre. Laurent Brossoit was told a few days ago he would start against the Vegas Golden Knights, and he relayed that news this afternoon. The defending Stanley Cup champs have taken off right where they left off winning their first four games of the new season.

“It’s a great challenge for us getting a team that is in midseason form, that’s a great challenge for us,” said Brossoit.

“That’s a great opportunity for a big confidence booster if we can take it to them early and play a full 60 minutes.”

Bowness said that it wasn’t the fact that the opponent would be Vegas that sealed this as Brossoit’s first start, it was mainly to do with the way the schedule worked out. The Jets coach has been very impressed with the team’s backup goaltender since the start of camp in September.

“Everything I hear about him in the summer, he’s living up to. His work habits, being a good teammate, being great around the room and everything,” said Bowness.

“He’s everything I heard about him; these guys obviously know him a lot better than I do. But he’s done a great job for us so far and he needs to play some games.”