Werenski relieved to break goal-scoring drought

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Zach Werenski acknowledged that a large load was lifted off his broad shoulders on Friday when he scored a late goal against the host Anaheim Ducks.

It was the 12th goal of the year for Werenski, which tied the franchise record for goals by a defenseman in a single season.

He had been sitting on 11 for quite some time.

“I started the season scoring a lot of goals right off the bat, and I thought I would have hit that a lot earlier than I did,” said Werenski, who had not scored a goal since Dec. 29 at Ottawa.

“That’s part of the game. A lot of good players go through slumps like that, but I’m happy to be out of it. Hopefully I can get some more and help this team in this playoff race. When we’re not scoring a lot of goals, it’s good for defensemen to be able to contribute some and help this team win.”

With Werenski ending his 25-game drought, perhaps the Columbus offensive attack from its blue line will start becoming a bigger factor in games as it was earlier in the season.

Seth Jones, who plays on the right side of Werenski, scored his 10th goal of the year in Los Angeles by flying up the open ice and taking advantage of a opening in the neutral zone and snapping a shot past goaltender Jonathan Quick.

“You could tell (Werenski) was happy about finding the net,” coach John Tortorella said before the Blue Jackets took on the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night.

“He had a chance in the first shift of the game with a 2-on-1 and he deferred to (Artemi Panarin) where he could have walked right down the middle of the ice. He passed. He is one of those guys who generates our offense. He dictates our offense and we have missed that. I don’t care about his numbers. I care about what he’s going to do right now to generate offense. He’s a huge cog to our offense.”

Wennberg returns

Center Alexander Wennberg was back in the lineup on Sunday.

Wennberg didn’t play Friday in Anaheim after incurring an upper-body injury the previous night in Los Angeles against the Kings.

Lukas Sedlak was scratched for the second time in three games. Scott Harrington, Markus Hannikainen and Taylor Chorney also were scratched against the Sharks.

400 club

Forward Matt Calvert became the fourth player this season to play in his 400th game with the Blue Jackets in his career when he did so Friday in Anaheim.

Defenseman Jack Johnson and forwards Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno all hit the 400-game mark with the Jackets earlier this season.

Defenseman David Savard is closing in on being the fifth player to hit 400, as he played in No. 391 with the Jackets on Sunday.

“Playing in 400 NHL games is something, but doing it all for the same organization makes it more special to me,” said Calvert, 28, who started his career with the Jackets in 2010 and can be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

“If you asked me 10 years ago whether I would play in 400 professional hockey games, I don’t know if I would have said yes. It’s a pretty exciting moment for myself.”