Injured Jones misses first game of year
After playing through an upper-body injury Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers, Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones sat out a game Saturday night at Nationwide Arena against the Ottawa Senators.
Ryan Murray replaced him in the lineup.
Coach John Tortorella said the upcoming schedule, with four games in six days, wasn’t a factor in Jones not playing Saturday.
“If we felt Seth Jones was ready to play, he would play,” Tortorella said. “There’s no mapping it out. He’s day-to-day.”
Jones and Jack Johnson were the team’s only defensemen to have played in every game. With Jones out, Johnson played with Zach Werenski in the top pairing. Ryan Murray, who was a healthy scratch against the Flyers, took Johnson’s spot in the second pairing with Markus Nutivaara. David Savard and Ian Cole remained together in the third pairing.
“We’re really going to miss Seth Jones. As I’ve said, he is a Norris Trophy candidate — he has had one hell of a year,” Tortorella said. “We’re going to miss him, but the next guy in is ‘Murr.’ He’s pissed off. He plays to play. Perfect. Right where we want him.”
Tortorella declined to explain why he chose to use Murray over Dean Kukan, who was activated from injured reserve Friday. Scott Harrington and Taylor Chorney were also healthy scratches.
“You’ve got Murr champing on the bit to come in. Murr’s a good player,” Tortorella said. “You know how I feel about Kukan. We have a bunch of (defensemen). Knock on wood: If we stay about our business and … we find a way to get in (the playoffs), you’re going to need those defensemen. We’re very fortunate.”
Savard said Kukan is excited to be healthy again. “You can tell in practice, he’s been buzzing around pretty good,” Savard said. “Who knows when we’ll need him in the lineup?”
Killer Jackets
The Jackets came into the game Saturday having killed 32 of their opponents’ past 37 power plays over the past 15 games, seventh-best in the NHL since Feb. 14.
“We came back to our identity of pressuring, making good reads and not letting teams set up,” Savard said. “It’s been really good for us to try to disturb them a little more. Before, we kind of sat back.”
Bobrovsky back
Sergei Bobrovsky made his fourth consecutive start in goal. Bobrovsky, who has appeared in 58 games, is five shy of tying his career high for a season.
Tortorella would not say whether he plans to give any of the final 10 regular-season starts to backup Joonas Korpisalo.
Slap shots
Boone Jenner, on a career-best five-game point streak, has scored a goal in four of the past five games. His firstperiod goal gave him six points (four goals, two assists) during that stretch. … Tortorella said he saw captain Nick Foligno huddling with linemates Oliver Bjorkstrand and Sonny Milano at practice Friday. “He is the right guy to be working with those guys right now,” Tortorella said of Foligno.