COLUMBUS, Ohio — There has been a relentlessness to the wave of injuries that has befallen the Blue Jackets this season, but the sheer number of players sidelined has not been the cruelest part of this ordeal.
Back in October, when optimism and health were in abundance, the two soft spots on the Blue Jackets roster were said to be at center ice and on defense. And wouldn’t you know that those are the two positions that have been decimated?
The destruction of the blue line has been well chronicled. The gutting of center ice is a new phenomenon, one the Blue Jackets came to terms with on Monday in a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars in Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets learned that No. 1 center Boone Jenner, the club’s captain, will be out for a month after suffering a fractured left thumb when he was struck by a puck during a loss to Florida last week in Sunrise, Fla.
Also, third-line center Cole Sillinger, who seemed to wake up in recent games after a slow start to his sophomore season, suffered an upper-body injury vs. Boston on Saturday and is out of the lineup indefinitely.
“I was just asking the guys what’s in the water here,” Blue Jackets newcomer Johnny Gaudreau said. “Is there something going on?”
The Blue Jackets played Monday’s game with eight rookies in the lineup — at least one on three of the four forward lines and one on each of the three defensive pairs. They also had a rookie in goal, with Daniil Tarasov making his third straight start.
In keeping with the theme of the season, second-year left winger Yegor Chinakhov got tangled up with a Dallas skater on his first shift of the game and skated directly to the room putting no weight on his left leg.
Chinakhov did not return to the game, and Larsen said he would not have a timetable for his absence until Chinakhov had further tests on Tuesday.
“We’ve been dealing with this, really, since Game 1,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “It’s coming in waves. You’re looking at four guys (Zach Werenski, Jakub Voracek, Jake Bean and Justin Danforth) who are out for the year already.
“It’s a big blow. But sometimes these things… well, everything happens for a reason.”
The Blue Jackets did not relent against the Central Division-leading Stars, but the imbalance of firepower was noticeable.
✨ just Tarry things ✨ pic.twitter.com/TnEEh9uPbn
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 20, 2022
Tarasov, who finished with 32 saves, was the Jackets’ best player, making every expected save and a few others that belong in a highlights package. The only goal he allowed was Wyatt Johnson’s sweep of a rebound only 55 seconds into the second period. The Stars added an empty-net goal with 1:07 remaining.
It’s hard to overstate Jenner’s impact on the Blue Jackets.
Jenner leads the Blue Jackets in goals (11), power-play goals (five), and shots on goal (93), and is second in points (22). In addition to centering the top line, he plays on the first power-play unit, kills penalties, plays late in games, and takes almost every meaningful faceoff.
In fact, his 20:11 average ice time leads the Blue Jackets’ forwards and is 27th in the NHL among forwards, playing more minutes than Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers, David Pastrnak of Boston, Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh, and others.
He’s sixth in the NHL in faceoffs taken (635) and fifth in faceoff wins (355).
“Boone is the leader of our team,” Gaudreau said. “That’s why he’s the captain. He wanted to keep playing. It stinks to get the news he got, but it has to be tough playing through something like that.”
Jenner was struck by a Patrik Laine shot while the Blue Jackets were on the power play late in an eventual 4-0 loss to the Panthers last Tuesday.
Remarkably, he finished that game and played two more games on the road trip with a cast on the thumb beneath his glove, but an evaluation by team doctors in Columbus determined that he’ll need surgery to reset the bone.
Imagine taking an NHL faceoff with a busted thumb. Jenner took 30 of them in the two-plus games after the injury, winning 10 of the draws.
“He pretty much told me he’d take as many as he could,” Larsen said.
Blue Jackets center Sean Kuraly, who moved up to the third line for Monday’s game, marveled that Jenner was able to play through the injury.
“I don’t think I would have been able to do it,” Kuraly said. “His thumb was cracked. You should have seen the thing. It was disgusting. Black and blue and bloody. Playing with a cast on his thumb… I don’t know how you even start with that.”
The loss of Jenner will give the Blue Jackets a chance to play rookie Kent Johnson, the No. 5 draft pick in 2021, not only higher in the lineup, but at his natural center position.
Larsen has dabbled with Johnson on a line with Gaudreau and Laine mostly at the end of games or with the goaltender pulled for a six-on-five advantage, but on Monday it was more than dabble. He started there, and he (20:07), Laine (23:08), and Gaudreau (23:44) all played heavy minutes.
KJ gets goal number 7 of the season pic.twitter.com/RI5dMEXoN6
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 20, 2022
Johnson scored the only goal of the game by the Blue Jackets, a backhand flip from the slot with only 14.3 seconds remaining.
But it’s a line that will have to be watched closely. Larsen tried to match them up with the Stars’ top line but quickly pulled the plug on that after a pair of early odd-man rushes. And when it came time for defensive-zone draws, Larsen sent out Kuraly and even AHL call-up Josh Dunne to protect Johnson.
“You try to slow these guys down as much as possible,” Larsen said. “Not in the sense of hurting their development, but to actually help them.
“(Johnson) was earning more opportunities. Now he’s played a good bulk of the season and he’s got some games under his belt. If he’s playing with those guys, he’s taking on a good chunk of minutes and competition.
“It’s trial by fire and he’s gonna be jumping in with both feet.”
(Photo: Gaelen Morse / USA Today)
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