Rookie Dubois putting in extra work
Long after Wednesday’s practice, when many of his teammates had already showered, dressed and departed, Pierre-Luc Dubois was still on the ice alone.
The rookie might be centering the Blue Jackets’ top line, but he doesn’t mind putting in extra work.
“When you’re younger, you want to stay out more, but you have an hour max on the ice, so now it’s fun to be out there more often,” Dubois said. “I grew up going on the ice during lunch time. I’d walk to the rink from my school, eat lunch, tie my skates, go on the ice for an hour, (and) then my dad would say, ‘Go back to school.’ ”
Added Dubois, who has a goal and five assists in the past five games, “Today, I worked on shots. I want to get more shots off in games, so no better time to work on it than right now.”
Alexander Wennberg, who started the season as the Blue Jackets’ No. 1 center, said he doesn’t feel added pressure because of Dubois’ emergence.
“Not at all. I’m glad that Dubois is doing great, and for me, I want to show them that I want to be the No. 1 center,” Wennberg said. “It’s good to have a guy to battle against. I just got to step up and try to play as good as him.”
Practice not punishment
Wednesday was listed as a day off on the Jackets’ weekly schedule, but Tortorella clarified “this was always going to be a practice day.
“I don’t use practices as a punishment or days off as rewards,” he added. “We use those days as we see fit to help our team.”
Murray, Nutivaara remain out
Defensemen Ryan Murray and Markus Nutivaara didn’t practice Wednesday. Each is recovering from an upper-body injury. Murray has missed the past three games while Nutivaara has sat out the past two.
Defenseman Zach Werenski was absent from practice because of “a maintenance day,” Tortorella said.
Werenski fired a career-high 10 shots on goal Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils, surpassing his previous high of seven on Nov. 25, 2016, against the Tampa Bay Lightning.