Lowry nearing a return as Jets prepare for Golden Knights

WINNIPEG - Adam Lowry didn't exactly ease into his first full practice without a non-contact jersey.
"It was nice that Carl (Dahlstrom) volunteered to get hit a few times," Lowry said with a grin. "It's one of those things where you're eager to get the bumping. You've had some controlled bumping in the smaller skates, but to get out there and do it in a more game-like environment, it's always nice to get out there and run into a few guys."
The 26-year-old centre has been out of the line-up since suffering an upper-body injury on January 19 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
It's always unfortunate timing when an injury hits, but with that game being the first game on the team's Mom's Trip, it was a bit tougher for Lowry to take.

"I know my mom was looking forward to watching a few games on the road with me playing," said Lowry. "There is always a silver lining, I got to spend more time with her on the road. It was nice having her on the trip when it happened. She wanted to carry my bag everywhere, she wanted to do everything. I had to tell her to maybe take a little bit of a step back here."
Lowry knew the injury that has forced him to miss 19 games so far was bad as soon as he felt the hit from Blackhawks forward Drake Caggiula.
But Lowry has put that in the past and is instead focusing on getting back as soon as possible to help the team in the playoff race.
"You want to be out there. You want to be battling and you want to be contributing. They've been in this fight really since the All-Star break and they've done a terrific job," Lowry said of the Jets, who hold the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference heading into Thursday's action.
"You try to stay positive in the room and bring what you can," Lowry added. "When you get the opportunity to get back in the line-up, you just try and keep it going."
Along with Lowry, Mathieu Perreault was also in a light blue jersey on Thursday. Perreault and Lowry, along with Logan Shaw and Mark Letestu, weren't part of the line rushes, but Perreault did take part in power play drills at the end of practice.

Head coach Paul Maurice said both Perreault and Lowry will get looked at by doctors this afternoon.
"I won't have both of them going in at the same time," said Maurice. "It was a full-on practice for them today, which is a great sign."
The full line rushes on Thursday looked like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Ehlers-Eakin-Laine
Harkins-Copp-Roslovic
Bourque-Shore-Appleton
Letestu, Shaw, Lowry, Perreault
Morrissey-DeMelo
Kulikov-Pionk
Beaulieu-Poolman
Dahlstrom-Bitetto
Following Tuesday's 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres to open a home stand, the Jets are now preparing to host the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.

Vegas is 9-1-0 in their last 10 games and are coming off a 3-0 shutout win over the New Jersey Devils.
"They're just playing faster. Their attack is simplified. They're shooting more pucks," said Maurice.
"These guys got back to fast. They're back playing the game that I think they played a couple years ago."