Werenski gets plenty of ice time
There was definitely some soreness for Zach Werenski after the season opener Thursday at Detroit. Fatigue, too, given that the Blue Jackets’ defenseman played a career-high 28:27 in the 3-2 overtime win against the Red Wings.
The only thing there wasn’t was any conversation between coach and player about his role Friday night for the home opener against the Carolina Hurricanes.
“No dialogue,” coach John Tortorella said before the game against the Hurricanes. “He’s going to play. He’s going to play a ton. He’s 21. He wants to play.”
The game had special meaning for Werenski in that it marked his official return to full action after shoulder surgery caused him to miss much of the offseason. With Seth Jones out because of a knee injury, he partnered with veteran David Savard as the top defensive pairing and showed no ill effects.
It didn’t mean he wasn’t sore, however.
“I feel OK,” he said before the game. “A little tired, a little sore. Part of the game, though. It’s nothing An official keeps things under control after the Blue Jackets’ Pierre-Luc Dubois was assessed a penalty in the third period.
I haven’t felt before the last two seasons. Obviously, I wish I felt a little better, but I’m happy that I’m sore, in a weird way.”
With Jones out for a few more weeks, it’s clear Tortorella is going to rely more on Werenski and Savard to carry a heavy load. He made one lineup change after the first game, replacing defenseman Gabriel Carlsson with Adam Clendening and pairing him with Dean Kukan.
Werenski missed a few minutes of the first period after being inadvertently knocked to the ice by Carolina’s Jordan Martinook not even two minutes in and inadvertently banging that surgically repaired left shoulder
into the glass at an awkward angle. He returned and finished with 25:19 of ice time.
In his first public comments since the start of training camp, forward Artemi Panarin said his situation remains the same regarding his status as an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
“Nothing’s changed,” he said through an interpreter. “Nothing depends on me. I have a contract. I’m not thinking about that right now.”
When asked about some of his teammates giving him goodnatured grief about signing a long-term deal with the Blue
Jackets, he said, “I feel kind of awkward, but I try to laugh it off. It’s funny. I like it.”
As the Blue Jackets made their way to the arena and walked the customary blue carpet, Savard stole the show with a neat handlebar mustache styled within his grizzly beard.
“The mustache was pretty long so I just tried to do something with it, something funny, and hopefully people enjoy it too,” he said. “It’s a special moment, that feeling, the buzz around the rink when you walk in with the carpet and everything.”