Top scorer Seth Jarvis returns, pain endured, and ready for full action. He hopes to ignite the Hurricanes' offense against the Stars.
The Carolina Hurricanes are poised to get their top scorer back tonight, as Seth Jarvis is in line to return to the lineup against the Dallas Stars.
Jarvis has missed the team's last eight games due to an upper-body injury after he was tripped into the goal post Dec. 16 in Florida.
"I couldn't really breathe at first, which scared me a little bit," Jarvis said when recalling the moment. "When I kind of got my breath back, there was a lot of pain, a lot of discomfort. After a few days of that, it started to wear down a little bit and I was starting to move and kind of get back into the swing of things."
The 23 year old has been practicing with the team for a little over a week now, but Tuesday's morning skate was the first time that he's shed the non-contact jersey and taken part as a full participant.
"I'm excited," Jarvis said. "I feel fucking great. Just happy I get to play again. Excited for tonight."
Jarvis practiced back on the top power play unit in place of Jackson Blake and took line rushes along with Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook.
The Canes have been cooking with their top line of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers, so it makes sense to leave them together for the time being, especially with Jarvis returning from a long layoff.
"They're my dads, I love those guys," Jarvis said.
The Canes have certainly missed Jarvis in the lineup, as the team has gone just 3-5-0 since his injury.
Not only is Jarvis the team's leading goal scorer, but he's also a reliable piece defensively and a crucial leader on and off the ice.
"He's such a gifted player," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "When that guy's missing, and with that energy he brings, you don't take it for granted, but when it's not there, you notice that something else is missing in the group and in the locker room. When it's Groundhog Day, when you're playing every other night and it's a new city and you've gotta win the game, there's that little emotion that you draw on and certain guys have that and he's one of those for us. He's definitely a leader for us on the ice, but he's definitely becoming one in the locker room too."
Brind'Amour also said that there isn't going to be any restrictions on Jarvis' deployment tonight and that he'll be utilized tonight like he normally would be in any other game.
"I'm just gonna go full bore," Jarvis said. "I trust that I've given it enough time to heal. I know there's gonna be some discomfort, but I'm prepared for that and I'm ready for that. Just excited to be back out there."
And if there is any concern over lingering trepidation from his incident, it's not coming from either of them.
"You score goals in hard areas of the ice," Jarvis said. "It's tough to score in this league and so you have to go to dirty areas. Sometimes you get hurt, sometimes you score. It's a risk I'm aware of, but one that I'm always going to be willing to take. There's no doubt in my mind that I'll do it again."
"You have to play fearlessly," Brind'Amour said. "The guys that are elite, and he's one of those, that's how they play. You don't want him to do it any other way."
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