New players step in as injuries knock out regulars

NEWARK, N.J. — After clearing their injured list when defenseman Ryan Murray came off last weekend, the Blue Jackets were without three players on Tuesday night against the New Jersey Devils.

Defenseman Dean Kukan is on IR with the team saying he’ll be out a month with an upper body injury; forward Nick Foligno (lower body) and defenseman Markus Nutivaara (upper body) also were out on Tuesday.

The good news is that Murray played for the first time since Nov. 27 because of a back injury.

Murray played for Columbus’ AHL affiliate in Cleveland on Sunday and practiced with the Jackets on Monday in Columbus.

With players coming out of the lineup, others will be counted on perhaps more than before.

Scott Harrington, who was scratched for nine of the previous 11 games in favor of Kukan, should now see more playing time; center Zac Dalpe was recalled from Cleveland after being sent down in November.

“It’s another opportunity for myself to get into the lineup and show what I can do,” said Harrington, who played in 24 consecutive games before being scratched on Jan. 25 in Arizona.

“I was just waiting for a chance to get in, and it was an unfortunate situation last game, but I got a lot of minutes. All that adds to your confidence as a player. I’m looking to build on that.”

Dalpe, 28, had been recalled by the Jackets in January yet was scratched for five games.

On Tuesday, he replaced Jussi Jokinen in the lineup and appeared in a Columbus game for the first time since Nov. 6.

“I think I went down to Cleveland and earned my call-up here,” he said. “I have to make sure I’m ready to go. The old cliche is ‘You have to earn everything’ and I’m going to try and earn some playing time."

Shoot to score?

The Blue Jackets came into Tuesday’s game leading the league in shots on goal, averaging 34.9 shots per game. In the previous eight games, the Jackets averaged 44.5 shots per night.

Yet where are the goals?

Except for a 10-goal run in wins over the Devils (6-1 on Feb. 10) and Islanders (4-1 on Feb. 13), Columbus averaged just 2.2 goals per game in those other six games — all losses.

Heading into the night, Columbus ranked 28th in the league in scoring at 2.56 goals per game.

“You have to shoot in this league and create scoring chances off that,” Boone Jenner said. “Lately we have been creating a lot of dangerous second chances with rebounds. We have to keep that mentality going. It helps us offensively. We have to bear down on the chances we get, stay with it and put some in the back of the net.”