Injuries shelve Atkinson, Wennberg

PITTSBURGH — Injuries are part of any hockey season.

For the Blue Jackets, however, this is starting to get ridiculous.

Columbus lost yet another top player to injury during Saturday’s shootout win over the Flyers as winger Cam Atkinson took a puck off his skate and suffered a fractured right foot that will require surgery.

On Tuesday, the team said Atkinson will miss as much as six weeks.

The Blue Jackets also confirmed center Alexander Wennberg will miss extensive time after hurting his back in a 3-2 shootout loss at Pittsburgh last Thursday.

Wennberg, like Atkinson, is expected to miss a month or more.

Columbus was already without center Brandon Dubinsky as well as defensemen Ryan Murray and Zack Werenski heading into the weekend.

The good news: Murray has been skating and seems to be closing in on a return to the lineup; Werenski isn’t expected to be out long.

The bad: Columbus will be without three of its top scorers for the next few weeks.

“Those guys bring a lot of different elements so everyone has to patch the holes, so to speak,” team captain Nick Foligno said Saturday night. “We can, I have no doubt that we can. Dubinsky and Wennberg are great players, but we have the guys in here who can do it.”

Dubinsky, although off to a slow start this year, scored 12 goals with 41 points last season. He has three goals and 12 points this year.

He has been out since breaking an orbital bone when getting punched in the face during a game against Edmonton on Dec. 12.

Dubinsky is expected to be out until February.

Wennberg led the Jackets in assists last season as he had career highs with 13 goals and 46 assists. Wennberg was starting to get his game back in gear of late, registering three of his four goals this season in the past eight games.

Atkinson led Columbus in scoring in each of the past two seasons and has six goals and 13 points this year.

“Everyone has to step up, give a little more,” Foligno said. “We have to find a way to get the job done and I think it teaches us to play within ourselves. There may be some tight games, but we have full confidence in our goalies and are confident we’ll get the goals when we need it.”

The Jackets brought up forwards Tyler Motte, Jordan Schroeder and Sonny Milano from Cleveland, as well as defenseman Dean Kukan.

Dubinsky, Atkinson and Wennberg are three of Columbus’ highest- paid players; the trio account for $ 14.3 million of the team’s $ 69 payroll this season.