With Saad ailing, Dubinsky moves from center to wing
Center Ryan Johansen is slated to return to the Blue Jackets’ lineup tonight after missing two games because of an undisclosed illness, and the team has no other players suffering from any injuries of note.
But the Blue Jackets still won’t be at full strength against the Washington Capitals.
Forward Brandon Saad missed practice on Thursday because of stomach flu-like symptoms and did not make the trip.
“We just don’t want it to be contagious,” coach John Tortorella said, “so he will not be playing (tonight).”
Tortorella tweaked his lines during practice, moving Brandon Dubinsky from center to left wing on a line with Johansen and right wing Cam Atkinson.
It is a position Dubinsky played occasionally under former coach Todd Richards and regularly under Tortorella during their time together with the New York Rangers.
“I played left side there for 41⁄ five years,” Dubinsky said. “He liked me on the wing. We haven’t talked about it too much, but he wants me there to mix things up and try to get the lines going, try to get Joe and Cam going and help those guys out.
“We haven’t talked about whether it’s going to be a long-term thing. We’ll see. As long as I get the ice time, I don’t give a (crap) where they play me.”
Dubinsky leads the team’s centers in faceoff percentage (52.9) and ranks 11th in the NHL in faceoffs (187) and 12th in wins (99).
Dubinsky will continue to take faceoffs, Tortorella said, and his move to left wing might very well be a temporary one.
For now, though, Tortorella does not want to displace William Karlsson from the center of a topnine line.
Karlsson, who will play in his 31st career NHL game tonight, has made a good first impression on his new coach.
“If I do something different, then I’m going to end up putting Karlsson on the wing if I want to keep him in the top nine,” Tortorella said. “I don’t want to do that to him. He’s a kid. I think he is playing well. So I’m going to keep him at center (and) I’m going to put Dubie with Joey and see where it goes, and we’ll make our adjustments as we see fit.”
Fresh air
Tortorella was not in Columbus for last winter’s All-Star Game and did not see the accompanying “Winter Park,” including a full-sized outdoor rink, across the street from Nationwide Arena in McFerson Commons.
But he said he would be more than open to the idea of holding a Blue Jackets practice outdoors on that rink after the team announced that it would return for a month this winter.
“I’d love it,” Tortorella said. “It just breaks the monotony. That’s half the problem with such a long year. (The players) come to the rink, they put the uniform on. Especially after Christmas, the holidays are over — that’s the dog days of the year.
“To do something different — the outdoor stuff is great stuff.”