EDMONTON, Alberta — Brandon Dubinsky was “a little surprised” Sunday when he looked at his cell phone and saw that John Tortorella was calling.
The Blue Jackets’ veteran center and coach have had a good relationship dating to their days together with the New York Rangers — “I really pull for him because I like him,” Tortorella reiterated Tuesday — but Dubinsky wasn’t sure why he was calling and didn’t know what to expect.
With Nick Foligno out two to four weeks from a lower-body injury suffered the night before, Tortorella told Dubinsky, he’d be moving him up to center Sonny Milano and Oliver Bjorkstrand on Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, who had been the center on that line, replaced Foligno between wingers Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson.
“I said, ‘Here’s a great opportunity to flush the other (crap) down and just concentrate on this window of games to try and help us get in,’ ” Tortorella recounted Tuesday of his conversation with Dubinsky. “He had a great attitude.”
Dubinsky said he was excited by the phone call.
“He could have gone a different way with his (forward) lines and he chose to give me another opportunity,” Dubinsky said. “So I’ve got to make the best of this opportunity. Go out there, have some fun with it, and just get back to my game. Because if I get back to my game, I know I can be dangerous and really help this team get where to where they want to be.”
Playing left wing on the fourth line Saturday against the Blues, Dubinsky logged only 5:59 of ice time and skated one shift in the third period. He finished with one shot on goal, two hits and was 0-for-3 on faceoffs.
He had been a healthy scratch the previous two games for the first time since joining the Jackets six years ago, and returned to the lineup Saturday only because of an injury to Lukas Sedlak.
Suddenly, Dubinsky has the chance to not only get more ice time but also be a major factor in the team’s final six regular-season games, and potentially, the playoffs.
“He can save the day here,” Tortorella said. “He needs to be a very important guy for us right now with Nick out. (Alexander Wennberg) needs to be a very important guy for us with Nick out. Dubi needs to look at it as a great opportunity to salvage a tough year and make a difference at a key time.”
It’s urgent that Dubinsky makes that difference now.
“I can’t wait,” Tortorella said. “There’s not enough games left. I can’t wait, so it has to happen right away.”
Said Dubinsky, “I feel like this team is going to need me at my best. … It’s an opportunity for me to focus on my game and get it back. I’m not going to squeeze the stick too hard and try to get it all back in one shift. It’s going to be a process.”
Dubinsky admittedly hasn’t been the “pest” he prides himself on being since the last time the Jackets and Oilers played, Dec. 12 in Nationwide Arena. That night, Zack Kassian asked him to fight in the waning minutes, Dubinsky obliged and Kassian caught him with a left-handed punch that broke Dubinsky’s orbital bone.
His face has healed, his vision is back to normal and he’s gotten used to wearing a visor for the first time in his career, required by doctors after surgery and tinted initially to help him deal with bright light.
His confidence? Dubinsky has lost that, Tortorella said. Dubinsky conceded Tuesday “it’s not that great.” But some good shifts can change that, he said.
Tortorella hopes so.
“I don’t think his eye affects him. I don’t think his hand affects him,” Tortorella said, referring to Dubinsky’s offseason wrist surgery. “He just needs to get his head on straight and play the way we know he can play. It’s set up nice for him here, because for us to keep competing, he’s going to have to play a pretty big role.”
The biggest thing that Dubinsky brings to the Jackets is his will, Tortorella said. “As all players do, he makes a lot of mistakes on the ice, but he makes up for it with his drive and personality and will.”
Said center Mark Letestu, “He’s a huge part of what we’re doing. Even though he hasn’t scored at the clip he’s normally used to, he still contributes in a lot of ways. …He drives a lot of the competitive side of the game, whether it’s being in the face of opposition or playing that physical, grinding game.”
Of the recent injuries to Foligno and Sedlak, Letestu noted, “We’ve been tooting our horn about how much depth we have. We have to show it off now.”
Hannikainen draws in
Markus Hannikainen drew into the lineup for the first time in 17 games. Before Tuesday, Hannikainen, who replaced Dubinsky on the fourth line alongside Letestu and Matt Calvert, last played Feb. 20 at New Jersey. Since playing in 13 consecutive games, Hannikainen had played in just two since Jan. 12 prior to Tuesday.
Otherwise, there were no changes to the lineup. Defenseman David Savard, who missed practice Monday because he was sick, participated in Tuesday’s optional morning skate. He said he felt much better and would play against the Oilers.
Tortorella didn’t have an update on when right wing Josh Anderson, who has started skating and accompanied the team on this trip, might return from his knee injury.
The new guys
Tortorella said he had heard great things about center Alex Broadhurst and forward Eric Robinson but didn’t know where the two new additions to the roster would fit.
Broadhurst, promoted from AHL Cleveland, impressed Tortorella with his skating at Monday’s practice. Robinson, who just finished his college career at Princeton, had yet to join the team at morning skate Tuesday. Tortorella said “no promises have been made” to either player.
“I’ve gone through a number of different flows with that fourth line this year,” Tortorella said. “Losing Nick, it changes a little bit the dynamic as far as who goes in. So they may get an opportunity. I just can’t predict where it all goes.”
Werenski honored
Defenseman Zach Werenski was named the Jackets’ 2018 nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy by the Columbus chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Every NHL team has one nominee for the award, given annually to the player that best demonstrates “qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”
Werenski has played most of this season with an upper-body injury.
“It’s a good learning experience for me moving forward,” Werenski said. “It’s not a good thing to go through when you’re young, but at least you know what it’s like, and you can find ways to play games when you’re not feeling 100 percent.”
Werenski said he doesn’t know if he’ll be fully healthy before the end of this season, but feels “pretty good” physically.
Round two?
Kassian said he didn’t expect any retaliation from the Jackets in the teams’ first matchup since Kassian and Dubinsky squared off.
“It was handled in the fight,” Kassian said. “Today’s a new game.”
Dubinsky described Kassian as “an honest guy” and admitted, “I was a willing fighter.” Kassian expressed empathy for Dubinsky.
“I’ve had my fair share where you get tagged. It’s not fun,” Kassian said. “It’s a part of the game. Obviously, he plays hard, and when you play hard, things are going to happen like that. But you never want to see something like that happen.”
Said Dubinsky, “When it comes to your eyesight and your face, it’s a little more scary, a little more difficult. But that’s behind me. My vision’s great. I’m feeling good.”
Letestu returns
Letestu, who grew up in Elk Point, about a two and a half-hour drive northeast of Edmonton, faced the Oilers on Tuesday for the first time since they traded him to the Predators, who then flipped him to the Jackets.
Letestu, who was in the midst of his third season in Edmonton, said he didn’t expect his former team to give him special recognition.
“I don’t think my impact was that significant to deserve that kind of welcome, but it is fun to be back,” said Letestu, whose wife and children have remained in Edmonton and will join him after the school year ends. “It’s the first time I’ve been in that [visitors] locker room. So it’ll be a different experience out there.”
Letestu had dinner plans with Kassian on Monday night, but canceled. “I hadn’t seen my family in two weeks,” Letestu said. “He’s a close second, but they took priority last night.”
Spoiler Oilers
The Oilers aren’t headed to the playoffs but came into Tuesday’s game 6-2-2 in their past 10 games.
“We were eliminated from playoffs (contention) a while ago,” Oilers forward Drake Caggiula said, “and we want to make sure we finish on a high note, not give up on the season and play that spoiler role and be those guys that can ruin other teams’ seasons.”
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