Lowry a full participant in Sunday's practice, could make return Monday

OTTAWA - All signs seem to point to an Adam Lowry return to the line-up on Monday.
The 28-year-old has missed the last four games with what he described as a neck injury (rather than a head injury) following a check he received from Toronto Maple Leafs forward Alex Galchenyuk on April 22.
However, Lowry was a full participant in Winnipeg's practice on Sunday in Ottawa and, assuming he comes to the rink feeling good on Monday, it's possible that number 17 gets back in game action with six games remaining on the schedule.
"You want to get back into the lineup, you want to contribute," said Lowry, reiterating he was never diagnosed with a concussion. "I know how I'm going to play. I know what I do that makes me effective, and if I'm not doing those things, I'm not going to be an effective player. It's about getting back to that and getting back to it as early as possible. It's going to be nice to get hit and give a couple of hits, just to feel that physicality again and battling in the circle and things like that. A couple shifts and I should be right back into it."

Lowry brings a lot to the Jets line-up. He's a reliable centre in the face-off circle, he plays a big role on the team's penalty kill - which has allowed four goals in the four games Lowry has been out - and he's also a physical presence.
The 138 hits Lowry has thrown this season is 12 more than the next closest player on the Jets roster (Neal Pionk).

With that in mind, the Jets were very cautious with Lowry's injury. A standard that holds true with any ailment, but perhaps more so with any injury "above the shoulders," as Jets head coach Paul Maurice says.
"We know that if you put a player back in before - and there is no 100 percent guarantee - you'll eventually cost your player and your team more time," said Maurice.
"We kept him in a gold jersey probably two days longer than he felt he needed to be. We were going to wait, and wait, and wait, then push him hard off the ice, push him hard on the ice."
Maurice didn't waste any time putting Lowry back with his familiar line mates - Andrew Copp and Mason Appleton - in Sunday's practice.
Should Lowry play, a decision will have to be made in regards to who comes out of the line-up.
Maurice indicated that decision would come down to Jansen Harkins or Kristian Vesalainen, who both have impressed Maurice in recent games.
With Lowry back in the fold, the adjustments Maurice made to the top three forward lines looked like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Stastny-Dubois-Perreault
Copp-Lowry-Appleton
The Connor, Scheifele, and Wheeler trio was together for a stretch of games in January, but was recently reunited for a couple games against the Maple Leafs on April 22 and 24.
"You put them back together and you can see why they function so well together when they're on. They were moving today," said Maurice. "Trying to give guys some comfort here, to get them back. You go through your stretches when you're growly, you're barking and benching and pulling people. You're trying to get the agitation level up and then you get to a point where you need to settle things down. I think we're at that point."

As far as comfort goes, putting Copp and Lowry back together is about comfortable as it gets - for both players.
"We've kind of had a good thing going for a while now," Copp said of Lowry and Appleton. "I'm used to the line changes, especially from the last two years. But two guys I'm definitely comfortable playing with and hopefully we can pick up where we left off."
As for Lowry, coming back to the line-up and playing with two players he knows well makes that transition easy.
He also sees the benefit for other lines on the team.
"You look at KC, Wheels and Scheif and how dangerous they can be off the rush, how dangerous they can be when they start cycling the puck and really start moving their feet," said Lowry. "I think sometimes when you go back to what you're used to, after kind of being away, you kind of get back to that style of game that maybe you've had success with in the past."
Maurice didn't give much for specifics, but he did hint that the Jets shuffled their power play units a bit on Sunday.
The other part of special teams play - the penalty kill - has been a strength for the team through the majority of the season.
It's had a bit of a tough go throughout the six-game losing streak. Three times in that span, the Jets PK has given up two goals.
Copp chalks a lot of it up to bad breaks.
"It's kind of like when it rains, it pours right now. Obviously, we've got to sharpen a few things up," Copp said. "In the Edmonton game, the Nugent-Hopkins one goes off DeMelo's leg and goes in, he's in the lane. The Barrie one, I'm in the lane, but the lane is bigger than I am and he picks a corner. The one Suzuki, he fans on it in the slot, it goes through my legs and Armia finds it and kind of squeezes it through. The other one, Suzuki hits my stick."

That seems to be how momentum goes when a team is stuck in a skid.
However, Maurice - and the team - feel things are close to turning.
It starts with the steps made in the last few games. It builds with the type of practice the team had on Sunday.
Then, the resolve is strengthened by everyone working together.
"You're always watching for three-man meetings over in corners, the team is starting to split. The opposite is true. We had a good one today," said Maurice. "They were hooting on each other. It was good. It was really good. I know the group is tight. They're together. That's phase one - we're all in this together. So let's get moving forward. I like what they did, I like where they're at right now. Again, leading and lagging indicators, it'll all take a different turn on a win, but we have to get one."
The next chance to get that win is on Monday against the Senators.