Perreault, Jets eagerly anticipating rematch with Maple Leafs

WINNIPEG - Even after a 30-minute practice on Friday, Adam Lowry's status is still up in the air.
The 28-year-old, who left Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs (29-13-5) after the first period following a hit from Alex Galchenyuk that caught him in the head, wasn't a participant in Friday's on-ice session.
"He's still going through testing," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. "We'll have a better idea tomorrow."
So, we wait.
However, Mathieu Perreault was a full participant in practice ahead of Saturday's rematch with Toronto. He was on the receiving end of an interference penalty from Joe Thornton, who was fined for the play by the NHL's Department of Player Safety on Friday.

"I knew it was kind of a late hit, he kind of got me in the ear," said Perreault. "I guess the spotter saw it so I had to go in to get checked. I'm glad we had a power play out of it."
Those two plays, on top of the high-sticking fine that Zach Hyman was issued after Winnipeg's 5-2 win in Toronto earlier this month, are part of a growing list of infractions the Maple Leafs have taken against the Jets (27-16-3).
However, Perreault said revenge for those plays isn't on the mind of the Jets.
"We're trying to win a hockey game first and foremost," said Perreault. "You want to give a little bit of a pushback but you want to stay within the lines and still legal. So maybe you want to try to get on the body or something. It kind of happened that way last night. I guess we'll move on and next time try to beat them on the ice and get two points."
The Jets woke up on Friday morning six points back of Toronto for the North Division lead, but have a chance to cut into that with a victory on Saturday.
Winnipeg has three wins over the Maple Leafs (and are 3-3-2 in the season series). In that third win, they were able to score five times without captain Blake Wheeler in the line-up.
Wheeler made his return on Thursday, earning an assist, but playing without key members of the line-up isn't anything new to the Jets. It's that experience that they'll lean on if Lowry isn't available on Saturday.
"He's a big guy that finishes checks, he can be intimidating for other teams when he's on the ice," Perreault said of Lowry. "That's a part of the game we're definitely going to miss from him. Hopefully it's not too bad and he's back soon."
With Lowry absent from practice, Andrew Copp stayed at centre - just as he did for the final two periods last night.
The full line rushes looked like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Stastny-Dubois-Ehlers
Perreault-Copp-Appleton
Harkins-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Benn-DeMelo
Stanley
Rolling with seven defencemen may have led to some odd pairs as Logan Stanley rotated through to get his reps in, but it was by design.
"That eighth guy at times can slow the rhythm and the rotation of how many reps a player gets," said Maurice. "There was a stretch of time, I think a year or two ago, where we were incredibly healthy on our blue line for a long stretch of time - which was highly unusual for our team. I thought our blue line was slower because of it, because we ran eight in practice all the time. I only wanted seven on the ice today and those are the seven guys I picked."
Maurice pointed out that Thursday's game may have been Pierre-Luc Dubois' best game in a Jets jersey, despite the fact the 22-year-old didn't get on the scoresheet.

Hearing that from his coach is a confidence boost for Dubois.
"We're both on the same page of what makes me a good player and what makes me the player I am," said Dubois.
"What he wanted more out of me is the same thing I wanted out of myself. It's one step in the right direction, but I know I can still keep improving. Not only for him, but for the entire team. I want to be able to help them every night."
In 19:22 of ice time, Dubois had four shots on goal - one of which was a partial breakaway in the third that nearly tied the game at four - and he was physically engaged throughout the evening, drawing a roughing call on Toronto's Wayne Simmonds.
"Points are fun, but it's more than that. You win games if you score, but you can also lose games if that's the only thing you think about," said Dubois.
"I think last game might have been my best game in terms of moving my feet and having an impact every shift."
His line as a whole put up 12 shot attempts while allowing just seven against at five-on-five (according to Natural Stat Trick) and held the edge in high-danger chances, 2-1.

In fact, that trio's ability to get to the net - and create some havoc, as Dubois did in front of Jack Campbell to draw the Simmonds penalty - is the exact type of retaliation the Jets would like to have on Saturday.
One thing is for sure. The Jets need to bring that emotion from the drop of the puck.
"You have to have some compete and some will in you. You have to control it. My dad always said, 'I'd rather hold back a horse than have to push it,'" said Dubois.
"For me, games like that or playoff games, it's not too hard to get me going for those games. It's fun. Often it comes down to who wants it more."