Williams update

Justin Williams will miss his fourth consecutive game tomorrow with his ever-mysterious lower-body injury. Terry Murray said Williams skated by himself for a half hour before Tuesday’s practice, but Williams is not making the trip to San Jose. Murray indicated that Williams is making progress, but also used the dreaded phrase “felt it” in terms of the injury, which is never a great sign. Again, we’ll see…

MURRAY: “He skated today for about 30 minutes before the team practice. Felt pretty good. A little bit, at the end, he felt it, that lower-body injury. So he will stay back. He will do the same thing again tomorrow, and get on the ice by himself, and hopefully he should be close by Thursday maybe. We’ll see in the morning skate. Might play.”

Murray did indicate, clearly, that Williams would return to his role as the first-line right wing upon his return. What that means for Wayne Simmonds remains to be seen.

MURRAY: “My philosophy, through my whole coaching career, (is that) a player never loses his position because of an injury. It’s not his fault. He’s out there trying to do the right thing, playing, and when a player gets hurt you can never take a player’s position away because of that.”