Boone Jenner and the Columbus Blue Jackets left two points and one tooth behind on the ice in Washington as the Capitals won 4-1.
After taking a puck to the face that left him bloody early in the first period…
ouch. hope Jenner is okay pic.twitter.com/BhUzblC9it
— Stephanie (@myregularface) March 28, 2016
…Jenner returned to the bench minutes later all stitched up, sporting a white cage on his helmet and a smile across his face.
COMIN' IN HOT pic.twitter.com/63ygMpTnmn
— NHL Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 29, 2016
His teammates, including forward Brandon Dubinsky, knew Jenner would play again that night, despite how bad the injury looked.
“I don’t think there was a doubt in anybody’s mind unless he was on his way to the hospital or dead that he was going to come back,” Dubinsky said to reporters. “That’s how tough of a guy he is and the type of player he is. He’s one of the leaders on the team.”
Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno agreed with Dubinsky, adding that it showed Jenner’s character.
“It shows what kind of a guy he is,” Foligno said. “He’s been a warrior for us all year long. The way he plays the game is admirable. He’s going to give you everything you ask of him. I had no doubts he was going to come back and I think he would have liked to have been back earlier, trying to get the docs to hurry up. It was good to see him back out there.”
The Blue Jackets needed him back out there, too, to keep battling against the league’s No. 1 team in their effort to avenge their “embarrassing” 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday. However, the Capitals proved to be too much for the Blue Jackets to handle and scored three goals in the third period.
Dubinsky said the effort was definitely more present tonight than it was over the weekend, but there are still several things he and the team have to learn from the loss.
“We certainly played harder than we did the other night, and we knew we were going to have to,” Dubinsky said. “It was one of those tight games. They get a fortunate bounce on the winner and we take a couple of penalties in the third, myself included, and we can’t do that. It was going to be [a matter of] who broke first and unfortunately, it was us.”
Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella had a few thoughts about that third period penalty call against Dubinsky in his post-game press conference.
“Holtby looked like he was shot and I thought it should have at least been evened up there,” Tortorella said. “But we’re not going to complain about penalties. We‘re in no position as a team in the standings where we are that we can’t complain about [expletive]. We have to keep on trying to get better.”
Tortorella thought the team did play a more focused game, but were unable to capitalize on their chances.
March 28 2016: Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Nick Foligno (71) jams the puck against Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (70). (Photo by Tony Quinn/Iconsportswire.com)
“Against a team like that, we have to make more out of our opportunities offensively,” Tortorella said. “We had a lot of almost-opportunities. Against that team, because they capitalize on their chances…that was the most disappointing part. We had some chances to create more offense and it died.”
Foligno agreed with his coach, and said how much of an impact small errors can have on the game’s end result.
“There are just those little lapses that can cost you, and it’s just unfortunate that it’s a tough break on the second goal that allows them to get an odd-man rush,” Foligno said. “We were doing a lot of really great things. We were playing our brand of hockey, not theirs. That says a lot about the way we were playing as a team.
Foligno also gave a great deal of credit to the Capitals and their style of play.
“That’s a team over there that doesn’t break in their system,” Foligno said. “No matter how the game is going, the ebbs and flows, they’re going to continue to play the same way. Usually when you do, and you’re committed to how you’re playing, things break for you like they did for them tonight. We just haven’t been able to find that. It’s a good measuring stick for us to realize how important it is to play that way for a whole game. You usually get rewarded.”
Foligno and the Blue Jackets hope their efforts on Thursday night against the New York Islanders will be rewarded with two points, and hopefully without losing any teeth in the process.
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