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The Blue Jackets were back in action on Tuesday night and though they lost to the Senators, the bigger loss is two of the team's prominent players suffering injuries.
Both James Wisniewski and Artem Anisimov left the game and did not return in Ottawa's 5-2 win over the Jackets.
Some thoughts:
- James Wisniewski is very important to this team and one could argue he's the best defenseman on the roster, but the Jackets should be able to survive his injury. He's only expected to miss 1-2 weeks and both Tim Erixon and Cody Goloubef, who have been good this season, sat as healthy scratches last night. I think Erixon is the better option, but either of those two should be able to fill the void while he's gone.
- How about Ryan Johansen? He wasn't at his best against Ottawa, but he still recorded an assist to extend his point streak to nine games. Despite all the injuries Columbus is facing, they have a chance to win almost every night in large part due to Johansen's play.
- After a hot start to the season, Dano sat a few games and, even with all the injuries up front, his ice has been limited of late. I'm not sure I can get on board with this. Dano has consistently done well in possession and created chances regardless of who he has played with, and the upside with him is much higher than that of Adam Cracknell, Michael Chaput and co., all of whom played more. If Dano is only playing 11 minutes with four or five top-9 guys out of the lineup, it may be best to send him to Springfield.
- For the most part Jack Johnson is playing against top competition, but he really needs to be better. The Jackets generate just 42% of all shot attempts taken when he's on the ice, which is 2nd last on the team, and Columbus is only scoring 33% of the goals with Johnson on the ice. Again, he's playing against good players, but those numbers are horrible for a top pairing guy. The one thing I will say in his defense is the Jackets are missing a lot of scoring punch up front, so it's hard to be on the right side of 50% in terms of goals for.
- Injured for the Jackets right now: Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner, Nathan Horton, Matt Calvert, James Wisniewski and Sergei Bobrovsky. How they can remain even remotely competitive right now is incredible.
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