Niederreiter returns to Jets after injury scare – Winnipeg Free Press

It was blood, sweat and fear for Nino Niederreiter.

The veteran Winnipeg Jets winger has been through games like this countless times in his NHL career, but on April 1st, he had disastrous results.

“I felt something in my leg, but I didn't know what it was. So I went down a few times and felt the blood. It's off to a warm start,” Niederreiter, 31, said after Monday's team practice.

“That's when I knew I had to go down and see what was going on. I was very successful. It hurt my Achilles a little bit…I'm glad I'm here right now.”

The incident occurred in the third period, when Adrian Kempe of the visiting Los Angeles Kings fell to the ice after a head-on collision with Niederreiter's teammate Mason Appleton. The LA forward skated up and caught Niederreiter in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Eight stitches. They told me I was lucky. I wore cut resistant socks. Obviously, they were a big help then. (It) would have been a lot worse if I hadn't worn them,” Niederreiter said.

“It was a strange game. I am glad that such cases do not happen often.”

Now, two weeks after the fall, Niederreiter is ready to get back into action. With time ticking away, the playoffs are two games away.

“Right now, he will decide if he will put me on (they want) the coaches or not.” But I'm ready to go and I'm looking forward to it,” he said after being fully involved in Monday's skate.

Jets coach Rick Bowness plans to add Niederreiter to the lineup Tuesday night when the six-game winning streak hosts the Seattle Kraken, who entered next year's field as the Jets (50-24-6). The Swiss skater is expected to take his usual place alongside Appleton and captain Adam Lowry, who has been a regular standout all year.

Winnipeg can clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of their playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche by securing at least one point against Seattle. With a loss in regulation, the Jets must pick up points in Thursday's battle against the Vancouver Canucks or the Avalanche will hope to lose to the Edmonton Oilers later that night.

“Everyone is very happy. It is clear that the Nomad will be a tough opponent. Overall, we know how important home ice is,” Niederreiter said.

“So it's important to get points in the next two games and we'll go from there. There's nothing better than playing playoff hockey in general, and obviously, being in Winnipeg with Whitetown is great.”

David Gustafsson has filled in admirably for Niederreiter, recording a goal and two assists over the last two games as the Jets beat the Dallas Stars and Avalanche by a combined 10-0.

“Overall, they played great hockey. And for Gustafsson, he's been great all year,” Niederreiter said. “His mindset has done his job very well every time he's come in. He competes very hard in training, sweats day and night. It's always great to see a player like him rewarded.”

A healthy roster will have tough conversations with players like Gustafsson, who will be out of the lineup through no fault of their own.

The Jets also have forward Cole Perfetti, who has 36 points in 70 games, currently waiting as insurance, forward Rasmus Kupari and defensemen Nate Schmidt and Colin Miller, who have been other healthy scratches of late.

“It speaks well of the depth of the organization and the fact that we're able to put guys in the right roles,” Bowness said.

“Gus likes the role he played with Adam and Apple more. This also shows his loyalty to the team. Gus didn't play much, but he really worked his butt off every day, as all guys who don't play do. They work really hard, the coaches work them really hard, and when we put them in, we're confident they're ready to do what we need them to do. Gus is a great role model.”

There is no doubt that Niederreiter will be back. He has 18 goals and 15 assists in 75 games this season and brings plenty of intangibles with 87 games of playoff experience on his resume.

“He's a player who can do everything,” said goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who will make his 60th start of the season against Seattle. “He's a force around the net. It's playoff time, you need it. You need those important goals… a rebound or a screen or a little tip. Not only that, but his defensive game is fantastic, so I'm happy to have him back in the squad when needed.”

The Jets aren't much further than the Kraken, but securing home ice will allow them to consider resting some key players for Thursday's finale. It also gives players like Gustafsson and Perfetti another game, and maybe even a call-up or two from the Manitoba Moose like Brad Lambert and Ville Heinola.

Bowness said Lowry, Sean Monahan, Vlad Namestnikov, Neil Pionk and backup goaltender Laurent Brossoit missed Monday's skate but are ready to go.

“Two points are important. But how we're going to get those two points is a good, tough, solid team (defense),” Bowness said.

“They're a good team, Seattle. I know they're out of the playoffs, but they've got speed and they've beaten us here before. We need to focus on the transition, the process we often talk about transitioning. And if it doesn't go our way, we try to solve it and fix it. But we want to win, we want to take home ice, we want to play that game (Tuesday) night.”

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Mike McIntyre
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Mike McIntyre grew up wanting to be a professional wrestler. But when this dream did not come true, he tried his best to become a professional writer.

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