Gabriel Vilardi doesn’t expect to swoop in and save the day for the struggling Winnipeg Jets.
He does, though, hope to “make a big impact” for the team when he returns from injury in Wednesday’s critical Game 5 playoff match against the St. Louis Blues.
“I’m not going to be Superman or anything like that,” Vilardi said. “I’m just going to go play and hopefully I can help those two out and help the team out.”
“Those two” refers to centre Mark Scheifele and left-winger Kyle Connor, the top-line duo Vilardi rejoins for the first time since suffering an undisclosed upper-body injury on March 23.
“We know what he means to this team, means to our line,” Connor said. “It’s very encouraging getting a guy like that back. We know what type of game he brings, so it’s great for us.”
Vilardi, from Kingston, Ont., registered career highs for goals (27) and assists (34) in the regular season, giving him 61 points in 71 games.
He missed the last 11 regular-season games and the first four of Winnipeg’s Western Conference best-of-seven opening round with the Blues.
The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets won the first two playoff games at home, then got outscored 12-3 in a pair of losses in St. Louis.
Vilardi returns to his normal roles and won’t be closely monitored, Jets head coach Scott Arniel said.
“It’s green light now,” Arniel said. “There’s no holding back. This is playoff hockey. There’s no [wading] his way in.”
He anticipates Vilardi will adjust to the transition.
“First couple of shifts, he’s going to have to get up to speed,” Arniel said. “It’s going to be a heck of a lot faster now than it was when he left us, but I’ve got all the confidence, as I watched him the last few days in practice, that he’ll be all right.”
Vilardi will be back on the top power-play unit, where the six-foot-three veteran excelled during the regular season with a team-best 12 goals.
Winnipeg has faltered in that area during the series with the Blues.
The Jets are 2-for-12 with the man advantage after leading the league during the regular season (28.9 per cent). The Blues have gone 6-for-18 in the four contests.
“We know around the net, he’s tipped countless goals throughout his career and this year, so it’s a huge advantage for us to have him back,” Connor said of Vilardi’s power-play prowess.
“He’s a big part of what we’ve talked about all year — not being a one-trick pony on the power play, being able to score and being pretty dynamic from all over the place. He just adds another element for them to be aware of.”
Arniel has adjusted every line with Vilardi’s return, including moving forward Alex Iafallo from the top line to the second one with Cole Perfetti and centre Vladislav Namestnikov.
Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers skated with the club’s strength and conditioning coach ahead of Tuesday’s practice, something he also did when the team was on the road, Arniel said.
Ehlers will start practising on Wednesday in a yellow non-contact jersey, Arniel said.
The speedy winger reaggravated an earlier lower-body injury when he got tangled up with a linesman during Winnipeg’s April 12 game against Chicago.
Blues head coach Jim Montgomery was sporting a bandage on his left cheek after taking a puck to his face during a drill at Tuesday’s practice in St. Louis.
“I was telling the players it’s not hard to box guys out,” Montgomery told reporters. “I was boxing the guy that was driving the net out and [forward Pavel Buchnevich] took a slap shot.
“I heard it hit the crossbar, I went like this [turned head] and it came right off the crossbar. It’s just making me feel like I’m a player in the playoffs, not a coach.”
