ANAHEIM, Calif. — Winnipeg forward Mathieu Perreault will be a game-time decision to play against his former team when the Jets take on the Anaheim Ducks in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night.
Perreault skated at the end of practice Wednesday and then for a short time Thursday, testing out what the team is calling a lower-body injury. He did not take part in line rushes and left the ice after saying something to a team trainer.
"He skated today," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "We’ll see how he comes back tonight and make a decision then."
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Injured April 9 against Colorado, Perreault missed the regular-season finale and has not taken part in a full practice since. If Perreault doesn’t play, Matt Halischuk is expected to skate on the fourth line alongside Jim Slater and Chris Thorburn, with Jiri Tlusty at left wing on the third line with Adam Lowry and Lee Stempniak.
"It’s what everybody wants to play for, it’s the 83rd game," Halischuk said. "Whether I’m in or out, I’m just excited to be part of this group and to move forward with this group."
Perreault missed 20 regular season games with injuries but still put up 18 goals and 23 assists after leaving the Ducks for a bigger role in Winnipeg.
"He’s put up some big numbers for us at key times in the season," veteran centre Jim Slater said. "He’s great on the power play, he’s great on the wing whatever line he plays with."
Andrew Ladd did not skate Thursday, but Maurice confirmed that was scheduled maintenance and that the Jets’ captain would play in Game 1. Eric O’Dell filled in on line rushes with Bryan Little and Michael Frolik.
The Ducks are expected to be without injured forward Nate Thompson, but the rest of their lineup is the biggest possible with Bruce Boudreau hoping to counteract the Jets’ size. Patrick Maroon is on the first line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, defencemen Clayton Stoner and Simon Depres are in over James Wisniewski and forward Emerson Etem replaces Jiri Sekac.
Boudreau praised the six-foot-three Stoner as "the best defenceman on the ice" in Minnesota’s first-round series a year ago and expects him to match up well against the Jets along with partner Sami Vatanen.
"He rises to that occasion and has in the past," Boudreau said of Stoner. "He’s a physical player and we’re playing against a big, physical team. It seems like a natural fit for him to be a good player for us."
Maroon on wing with Getzlaf and Perry is a repeat of the three regular-season Jets-Ducks games, and Boudreau liked what he saw. At six-foot-two, the 26-year-old Maroon brings the "meat and potatoes" to Anaheim’s top trio.
"I think for me I just need to go out there and be big and physical, use my skill and go to the net, create traffic for those two and create havoc for the D back there on Winnipeg to open up space for those two," Maroon said. "That’s my job."
Because the Ducks have the last line change, Boudreau could choose to test the Jets’ line of Drew Stafford, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler by putting the Getzlaf line against them.
"I think any line on our team can handle any line," Scheifele said. "That’s the way we have to approach it."
