A history of shoulder injuries made acquiring Eric Fehr a risky gamble for the Jets. As the season continues, it is a risk Winnipeg hopes pays off with some goals.
 The Winnipeg Jets gambled this summer by acquiring Eric Fehr in July from the Capitals in the wake of another off-season shoulder surgery for the 26-year-old right wing. For the Capitals, Fehr's frequent shoulder injuries made him expendable as the team indulged in the free-agent market.
Fehr missed all of training camp and the first 19 games of the regular season recovering from his surgery, while the Jets established their new identity in a new town. He finally played his first game Nov. 19 and was eased into the lineup, initially playing less than 10 minutes per game on the fourth line in to avoid re-injuring his shoulder.
It was a difficult adjustment for Fehr, who typically bounced between the second and third lines in Washington.
"Being on the fourth line, you don't want to make too many mistakes," Fehr told reporters. "I've been limiting my creativity and maybe I can work a little more on that and trying to be more offensive."
His lack of offensive production was obvious. Through his first 14 games, Fehr still had not scored a goal and had just one assist. His play concerned coach Claude Noel, prompting him to call out Fehr to the media on Jan. 2.
"I'm waiting for him to play a little better," Noel said. "He's still dealing with the injury. It still bothers him. It bothers him somewhat mentally. That's something he has to overcome. He wants to play more. I have no problem with that. Play better, you play more. It's that simple. I've spoken to him about that."
And with how Fehr had been playing, Noel was reluctant to promote him from the fourth line.
"He gives me no reason to move him off of that slot," Noel said. "You're playing five minutes, seven minutes, eight minutes."
Fehr not only understood the coach's criticism – he agreed with it.
"I'm not really too worried about the criticism from above, I'm criticizing myself every game and I'm not happy with the way I'm playing," Fehr told reporters. "It hasn't quite been the same this season but you can't really blame the shoulder injury. Once you're on the ice, it's your job to play and perform, and that's the bottom line. I just need to improve."
Fehr must have done something right after Noel's comments, as he was moved up to the first line with Nik Antropov and Andrew Ladd for some road games just a few days after Noel called him out.
"It wasn't a merit thing," Noel told reporters. "He just fits good there, he's a good player, he's been playing better. He's doing his best and he's had a couple of good games so let's get him going."
On Jan. 10 – in his 18th game of the season – Fehr scored his first goal as a Jet in a 5-3 loss at Boston.
 "It definitely felt good to get involved (offensively) and at that point in the game it was an important goal," Fehr said, as the goal gave the Jets a 3-2 advantage in the second period. Unfortunately, the game went south for the Jets in the third period, but the goal is a weight off Fehr's shoulders.
Only three Jets players will finish the season with at least 20 goals at their current pace. As a former 20-goal scorer, Fehr's production is very important to a team that will spend the second half of the season fighting for a playoff spot. The Jets are seeking their first playoff appearance since the Atlanta Thrashers qualified in 2007.
With increased minutes, Fehr must shoot more. He is currently averaging 1.3 shots per game after averaging more than two shots per game the last two seasons in Washington. That average should get a boost now that Noel is beginning to use Fehr on the power play.
But it's Fehr's performance away from home that could make the biggest impact; the Jets are 6-11-4 on the road. Fehr can help – in his 2009-10 season with the Capitals, Fehr scored 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 35 road games. Now injected with some confidence coming from increased ice time and his first goal, Fehr has the capability of being a difference-maker.
Notes
The Carolina Hurricanes got some good news Tuesday, when doctors cleared Jeff Skinner for contact. Skinner fully participated in practice Wednesday for the first time since he suffered a concussion on Dec. 7. "Today is a big step for me to get out there in a normal jersey and play in all the drills," Skinner told reporters. "But, there are not the huge hits that you're going to see in the game." Coach Kirk Muller doesn't want to rush Skinner back and is holding him out of the lineup for the next few games so that the reigning Calder Trophy winner can practice more and see how he feels. "He looked good yesterday, but I'd rather wait 'til he's 100 percent," Muller told the Charlotte Observer. "He's pretty much there now." ... The San Jose Sharks' HP Pavilion has not been kind to the Washington Capitals -- the Caps haven't won a game there since 1993. The losing streak in San Jose continued Saturday in a 5-2 collapse, and the Capitals lost more than just the game. D Mike Green, recently returned from a groin injury, left the game in the second period with a re-injury and did not return. He subsequently missed the Capitals' next two games and has no timetable for returning. On Thursday, the Capitals placed him on long-term injured reserve. ... Nicklas Backstrom (head) was put on IR Wednesday to make room on the roster for D Tomas Kundratek, who was recalled from AHL affiliate Hershey. Kundratek made his NHL debut in the Capitals' 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday. ... The team has not confirmed if Backstrom suffered a concussion after taking an elbow from Rene Bourque to his head, but coach Dale Hunter told media that he is "not feeling 100 percent, so we're being careful." ... As if the loss of D Viktor Hedman (concussion) wasn't enough, the Lightning's injuries continued to pile up Tuesday, when the team announced that C/RW Adam Hall could miss as many as eight weeks with a torn forearm muscle, injured in a fight with Ottawa's Matt Carkner Thursday. "You lose your balance, you go one way and the muscle goes the other way," Hall said to media of the fight and subsequent injury. "He's a huge part of our team defensively," coach Guy Boucher told reporters. "He's the most reliable forward we've got. He's our best faceoff guy. He blocks shots. He pays the price. He's our top guy for penalty kill. It's a big piece for us to lose." ... C Marcel Goc made his long-awaited return from a concussion on Jan. 5 and promptly made a big impact for the Florida Panthers. He has four points in three games since the injury, including the game-winning goal in Monday's 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. "It has gone well right from the start," Goc told the Sun-Sentinel. "But the guys I've played with, they've also played well. We've played well as a team, and one thing leads to another and I got a couple of points."
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