Jets’ Neal Pionk expected to return against Canadiens

The Winnipeg Jets are likely to get a boost in the form of a return of one of their top defenseman, as Neal Pionk is expected to return to the lineup in time for Wednesday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.

The team’s color analyst, Mitchell Clinton, reported that Pionk was in the lineup at the club’s morning skate, working on the second pairing alongside lefty Dylan Samberg.

Pionk has been sidelined on a day-to-day basis with a lower-body injury for about a week, but he made the road trip with the Jets in the hopes of being able to return for a key showdown like this one against a high-profile cross-conference foe.

Pionk, a 30-year-old veteran with 557 NHL regular season games of experience under his belt, has skated in 21 games for the Jets this year, recording a goal and four assists while averaging 22:44 of time on ice on a per game basis.

After just 2:05 of ice time in Winnipeg’s game on November 23 against Minnesota, Pionk exited with his injury. The Jets have caught some bad injury luck recently, as the team will be without reigning Hart Trophy-winning goalie Connor Hellebuyck for several more weeks as he recovers from a minor knee surgery.

Winnipeg was off to a strong start, but has gone 4-6-0 in its last 10, slipping down to sixth place in the Central Division with an overall record of 13-12-0.

Wednesday night’s showdown in Montreal marks the end of the Jets’ current road trip. They’ve dropped games in Washington, Carolina and Montreal while earning a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday to avoid the possibility of going winless on the trip.

The schedule continues to do Winnipeg no favors after the trip, as they’ll return home to host Buffalo on Friday before getting on a plane again to take on the Edmonton Oilers in a back-to-back scenario on Saturday.