Nutivaara returns; Carlsson takes seat

NEWARK, N.J. — The Blue Jackets got back one of their two injured defensemen on Friday night against the New Jersey Devils as Markus Nutivaara returned to the lineup after missing two games.

Nutivaara’s defensive partner, Ryan Murray, did not play for the fifth consecutive game, because of an upper-body injury, so Nutivaara skated with Scott Harrington. With Nutivaara back, Gabriel Carlsson was a healthy scratch.

Coach John Tortorella said on Thursday that it didn’t matter which player Nutivaara would replace when he returned — “Flip a coin on all four of those guys, quite honestly,” he said — because only the top pairing of Zach Werenski and Seth Jones was playing well.

Although Tortorella has constantly shuffled his forward line combinations, he has yet to tinker with his defensive duos, keeping David Savard and Jack Johnson together despite their struggles.

“It’s a different situation with just two guys — face-offs, just breaking out of your end zone, a lot of different things come into play in playing defense,” Tortorella said, adding that “we’ve been comfortable with the six” before Tuesday’s game.

Hannikainen gets chance

Markus Hannikainen drew into the lineup for the first time in eight games on Friday, replacing Tyler Motte as the right wing on the fourth line.

Motte was accidentally slashed on his wrist/hand by teammate Boone Jenner while on the bench when Jenner smashed his stick on frustration on the rail.

Batter up

Werenski and forward Josh Anderson toured the NHL and MLB Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, on Friday.

“It was definitely cool being there because you’re watching the NHL Network basically every morning to see what’s going on,” Anderson said.

But he said his favorite part of the tour was baseball. Anderson and Werenski faced off in Studio 42, a set designed to be a replica of a baseball field, which includes a pitcher’s mound 30 feet from home plate.

Anderson conceded that he surrendered a home run to Werenski, “but I struck him out a couple of times, so it makes up for it.” Added Anderson, “You have a stick in your hand every single day, so to get away from it a little bit and hit a couple of Wiffle balls was pretty fun.”

Disgusting taste

Tortorella said “it was disgusting the way we played the second and third periods” of Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Devils and his message was “that has to stop right away.”