Dubinsky back, wants Blue Jackets to show urgency

Tuesday, 12.03.2013 / 1:19 PM

By Craig Merz - NHL.com Correspondent / 2013-2014 At the Rink Blog

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COLUMBUS -- Columbus Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky returns from injury Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning hoping to stabilize a team that hasn't won two games in a row since late October.

"It's nice to get back in the lineup and try to help this team get back on track and find some consistency and string some wins together," he said.

Coming off a 3-1 defeat Saturday at the Boston Bruins, the Blue Jackets have alternated regulation losses and wins the past eight games and have gone 17 games without consecutive victories since winning three straight from Oct. 22-25.

The Blue Jackets (10-14-3) are seventh in the Metropolitan Division and 13th of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference.

"We've got to start finding a way to climb the standings," Dubinsky said. "It's not early in the season anymore. People forget we're about a third of the way through. We've got to put our foot on the gas here."

Dubinsky was injured Nov. 19 at the Edmonton Oilers when he slammed skates-first into the boards. He considers himself somewhat lucky that he missed only six games with a leg injury.

"Looking at it, it could have been a lot worse so I'm thankful for that," he said. "[But] you never want to miss any time, so it was tough watching."

Columbus coach Todd Richards is happy to have Dubinsky and his 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 21 games.

"He's a big piece, an impact player for us," Richards said. "Aside from his points, what we're getting back is his energy and his work ethic. He plays with that passion, that tenacity we're looking for that I think is a big part of our identity but is missing sometimes."

Dubinsky will skate with Matt Calvert on the left and Blake Comeau on the right.

"He brings a lot of energy, a lot of grit, a lot of character to the lineup," Calvert said of Dubinsky. "He's a real on-ice leader. You can see that by the way he plays."

The Lightning (16-9-1) have had to deal with injuries as well, first and foremost losing star Steven Stamkos to a broken tibia Nov. 11 at the Boston Bruins. Stamkos was tied for first in points (23) with Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and goals (14) with Alexander Steen of the St. Louis Blues at the time of the injury.

Tampa Bay is 4-4-1 without Stamkos and has won two of three.

Coach Jon Cooper said the team can't make up Stamkos' lost offensive production so the defense must stay strong. After allowing 3.06 goals a game last season, the number is at 2.50 this season.

"We've shaved off nearly three-quarters of a goal from last year," Cooper said. "That was our goal. What I do like is we've kept status quo. We haven't been giving up more goals. That's the big key why we're having a little bit of success here since [Stamkos] went down."

Here are the projected lineups:

LIGHTNING

Teddy Purcell - Valtteri Filppula - Martin St. Louis

Nikita Kucherov - Alex Killorn - J.T. Brown

Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Richard Panik

B.J. Crombeen - Nate Thompson – Dana Tyrell

Eric Brewer - Mark Barberio

Sami Salo - Victor Hedman

Matthew Carle - Andrej Sustr

Ben Bishop

Anders Lindback

Scratched: Keith Aulie