Head coach Rick Bowness felt his team was ready to play against Vegas, but saw the lack of practice time over the last couple of weeks result in Winnipeg's attention to detail slipping in a couple situations.
"When they slip against a really good team, you're going to pay the price," he said. "We had some missed assignments. It wasn't a matter of being over aggressive or sitting back, it was just making the wrong read at the wrong time. It was as simple as that."
Part of not practicing on Wednesday was the fact that some players - specifically Pierre-Luc Dubois - are dealing with illness, while others needed the day away for maintenance to ensure they'd be ready to go on Thursday night.
The good news this morning was that the day away seemed to be exactly what Dubois needed. The centre, who has seven goals and 17 points in his past 12 games, was on the ice for the morning skate after missing the last couple pregame sessions for rest.
While there is some certainty that Dubois will be ready to go against Nashville, there is less of a guarantee in other spots.
Jansen Harkins and Morgan Barron didn't take part in the morning skate and are among the game-time decisions Bowness and his staff will have to make.
The line rushes looked like this, with Connor Hellebuyck expected to start in goal:
Connor-Dubois-Eyssimont
Perfetti-Scheifele-Wheeler
Jonsson-Fjallby-Lowry-Kuhlman
Gustafsson-Stenlund-Gagner
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Talk about a welcome to Winnipeg for Karson Kuhlman, who arrived in the city late on Wednesday after being claimed Tuesday from the Seattle Kraken.
Depending on the health of the Jets forwards, his debut could come tonight.
"Just taking it a little bit at a time here," Kuhlman said. "Obviously a great group of guys and a team that's winning. So I just want to come in and help that as much as I can."
The 27-year-old has a goal and three points in 14 games this season, and likely felt right at home in a Jets room that has a few of his former teammates in it. Kuhlman played with Neal Pionk and Dylan Samberg at different times at University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Dominic Toninato - currently with the Manitoba Moose - also played with Kuhlman at the NCAA level. The injured Mason Appleton was teammates with Kuhlman in Seattle, and Nate Schmidt teamed up with Kuhlman at the 2022 IIHF World Hockey Championship.
"Nice to see some familiar faces," Kuhlman said. "We were pretty fortunate to have some great teams and obviously a lot of great players that are still playing today. I think we all push each other there, and it shows with how many guys made it to the next level."
The overlap between Samberg and Kuhlman was just one season, 2017-18, but Kuhlman was captain that year and Samberg remembers it well.
"I loved him. He was a captain that brought a lot to the locker room," said Samberg. "He was vocal in ways and he would get on you if needed, which was great. He helped out a lot of the young guys since had a such young team that first year."
Kuhlman describes himself as a player that likes to get in on the forecheck and is also someone that has played a penalty killing role.
That fits right in what Bowness wants.
"If you don't see him tonight, you'll certainly see him on the weekend," said Bowness. "A lot of good reports on his skating and his compete. He's a good penalty killer. We picked him up to play him."
Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
Winnipeg is second in the Central Division with 37 points, two back of the Dallas Stars with two games in hand. The Jets are 10-2-0 against their Central Division counterparts this season, with both losses coming on the road.
The Jets are 21-for-90 (23.3%) on the power play through the first 27 games of the season. Winnipeg is 10-for-29 (34.5%) with the extra man in the past nine games, having scored on the power play in eight of the past nine games.
Josh Morrissey leads the team in scoring with 32 points (5G, 27A) in 28 games. He established a new career high with 27 assists, one more than he had in 2019-20 in 65 games.
Pierre-Luc Dubois has 17 points (7G, 10A) in his past 12 games played since November 21. He has a point in 10 of the 12 games, including three three-point outings.
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