Morrissey could return to Jets line-up against Flyers on Sunday

WINNIPEG - If everything goes smoothly over the next 24 hours, Josh Morrissey will return to the Winnipeg Jets line-up against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.
"He'll come to the rink as a player," said head coach Paul Maurice. "Then we'll make sure he feels as good tomorrow as he does today and we'll make that decision."
Morrissey has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury. It's also the first time in his NHL career he's missed consecutive games.
The injury didn't sneak up on Morrissey, who says he has been dealing with it for a while. After the comeback win over the New York Rangers, it flared up even more.
"I'm hoping to (play). I'll go through the protocol I guess and see how everything is doing. My hope is to play tomorrow. Things are feeling pretty good, so that would be the goal," said Morrissey.

The 23-year-old was a full participant in Saturday's 25-minute practice at Bell MTS Iceplex, in his familiar spot alongside Jacob Trouba on the blue line.
With Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler not practicing (based on minutes played on Friday) and Andrew Copp also not participating in Saturday's skate due to a scheduled doctor's appointment, the Jets lines looked a bit different than they're expected to come game day.
Maurice expects both Scheifele and Wheeler to play against the Flyers.
With the return of Dustin Byfuglien and Dmitry Kulikov in Friday's loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Jets blue line is as close to full health as it has been in six games.
"When we're healthy, we have a real nice back end there. You saw it with the injuries, all of those guys can play big minutes, and they'd like to," said Maurice.
"You get into a better rhythm. Four would be perfect but you can't in an 82-game schedule, five would be right on. They'd all love more minutes. I think they get into a better rhythm. The game comes easier to them."

Kulikov played 11:40 in the loss to the Blues, his first game since his upper-body injury occurred against Colorado on Nov. 9.
He had two shots on goal and hit the post in the third period. For Kulikov, it was just nice to be back in game action.
"Playing the game, it's fun. When you play the game you don't think about anything else. No injuries, nothing in your mind. You just go out there and do what you love to do," said Kulikov.
"I definitely wanted to get a bump in the first five or 10 minutes to see how it feels. There were no problems. I felt great all game."
One thing the Jets want to improve from the loss to the Blues - which opened a four-game home stand - is getting back to a shooter's mentality.

Maurice felt the team got too content being on the perimeter and didn't move quick enough to create more chances and opportunities against St. Louis.
Mathieu Perreault said getting out of that pass-first thought process is important for Winnipeg's offence.
"It creates chances. It creates chaos in the offensive zone when you start with a shot," said Perreault. "You make the defenders turn toward their net. We did that last night, we had plenty of good chances. We just weren't able to convert them. We liked our game last night, a lot of good chances, so we're staying positive in here."
Sunday's opponent, the Philadelphia Flyers, will come into Winnipeg on the back end of a back-to-back, after playing the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon.
It will be the second stop on a five-game road trip for the Flyers, with stops in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver scheduled after the stop in Manitoba's capital.
"The East style of play. (They're) fast and a lot of skill on their team," Perreault said of the Flyers. "Really we have to focus on what we've been doing. Keeping it simple, put pucks on net, and out work their defence in the offensive zone, and we should be fine."
Connor Hellebuyck will get the start in goal for the Jets, with the puck drop set for 2 pm CT.
ICE CHIPS
With Morrissey eyeing up a potential return against the Flyers, the Jets reassigned Cam Schilling to the Manitoba Moose.
Schilling made his Jets debut and recorded his first NHL point on Nov. 29 against the Chicago Blackhawks. He followed that up by playing all three games on the Jets road trip through the New York area.
"For us, we thought he was a good pro, we liked the way he played in the American League, but he didn't have a body of work in the NHL," said Maurice. "He came in, and gave a real clear idea of what we're going to get. He moved the puck quick and simple. He wasn't afraid to make a mistake and he wasn't out there trying to create something to impress you. He went out and played a good pro's game."