West Notes: Jets, Shore, Gibson

The Jets are likely to be without defenseman Jacob Trouba on Thursday night despite the fact he was able to practice with the team today, suggests Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun.  Trouba missed Monday’s game with an upper body injury (and would have sat out Tuesday had that game not been postponed due to weather); it’s believed the injury was sustained during a fight over the weekend against Calgary in which five stitches were required just above his eye.

Winnipeg may also be without left winger Shawn Matthias who missed practice with an undisclosed injury and is listed as questionable for Thursday.  Left winger Nic Petan would likely take his place although he may be in the lineup regardless of whether or not Matthias is available.  Leading scorer Mark Scheifele (illness) didn’t practice but is expected to suit up against the Islanders.

Elsewhere in the West:

• Winger Drew Shore had offers from other NHL teams before deciding to join Vancouver for the rest of the season, reports Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Province. GM Jim Benning admitted that with the team as far as they are out of the playoff race, they’re likely to start giving their younger players more playing time which should bode well for Shore among others.  Benning also noted that part of the rationale for signing Shore was that he’d like to avoid calling anyone else up from their minor league affiliate in Utica, who are in a tight race for the final playoff spot in the AHL’s North Division.
• The Ducks are monitoring goalie John Gibson daily after some of the lingering soreness from his lower body injury resurfaced on Friday, notes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. There’s no timetable for when he’ll make his next start but head coach Randy Carlyle doesn’t think he’ll need that much time to be ready as soon as he’s cleared to return to practice.  In the meantime, Jonathan Bernier will remain as the starter, a role he has handled fairly well as of late, going 5-2 with a 2.17 GAA and a .933 SV% in his last seven outings.