Practice Report: Jackets not watching the standings yet

Everyone knows this is an important week for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Washington, the team directly above Columbus in the standings, visited Nationwide Arena on Tuesday night.
Tonight, it's the first-place New York Islanders who invade Nationwide Arena, giving the Blue Jackets another chance to chip away as they try to reach the top of the Metropolitan Division standings.
Everyone knows this -- except perhaps the Blue Jackets themselves, if they are to be believed.

Yes, they know Washington is good. Yes, they know the Islanders are one of the NHL's biggest surprises. And yes, they look at how things are shaping up.
But the Jackets are not sitting there studying the standings every day -- at least not yet.
"Honestly, I don't check the standings that much," Pierre-Luc Dubois said. "I want to win every game. We put ourselves in a good spot and we put ourselves in a spot where we don't have to check the standings as much if we just win every game.
"You hear about it all the time from other people too. You just have to concentrate on winning the games this time of year."
It's the same for head coach John Tortorella. Yes, of course the Blue Jackets know where they are and what they have to do. They're just not poring over what each game means at this point. Showing up and winning games, with less than 30 to go, is the best way handle the playoff race.
"Do we look at, 'OK, the Islanders are here, Washington is here?'" Tortorella said. "The coaching staff does not bring that upon the players. We're trying to take it one day at a time. But the players know. Everybody knows where the standings are right now, how close it is in both conferences, so I think the easiest thing to do is just worry about your business and take it one day at a time, whether it's a practice day or a game.
"But they understand how important tonight's game is. I don't have to say a word to them."
Energizer Bunnies:The word of the day after the Jackets' 3-0 thumping of Washington on Tuesday night was "energy."
The Blue Jackets clearly had it in spades, winning about every loose puck battle and completing every back check. If it was because the team didn't skate Sunday or Monday, then the team hopes that repeats itself against the Islanders as the Jackets took Wednesday off before a short, fast-paced morning skate Thursday.
Tortorella said after the practice that the team had good energy again this morning, and the players themselves seemed more than happy to put in their work considering they were given the chance to avoid the Nationwide Arena ice yesterday.
"We've played a lot of hockey, and we're going to play a lot of hockey," defenseman Ryan Murray said. "I think everybody knows that. Days off are huge. You just kind of relax. I talked to most guys, and most guys are just hanging out, relaxing, taking advantage of it."
Dubois said he came to the arena Wednesday for a workout, then stretched and took advantage of the cold tub to get himself ready for the Islanders. When asked if he was happy to avoid putting the skates on, he flashed a quick smile.
"It feels good mentally and physically," he said of the off days. We're at game 56. We've been practicing since training camp, so these days where we can stay off the ice for a 30-minute practice, they feel good."
Getting The Points:Two things have gone hand in hand with Murray's game this year: He's stayed on the ice, and because of that he's racked up the points.
So much so that Murray, after earning an assist in the win over the Caps, now has 26 points for a career high. That nudged him past his total of 25 points in 2015-16, a season in which he played all 82 games and the only season he's gotten past 70 to this point in his NHL career.
"I've been feeling pretty good, but I just want to keep it going here," said Murray, who has one goal and 25 helpers. "It's the most exciting time of the year and we're going to have some huge games. Every game is going to be so important. That has to be the focus right now. It's gonna be fun."
While Murray's past injury struggles have been well documented, this is the Murray the team saw when it drafted the smooth-skating defenseman second overall in the 2012 entry draft. He's slid right into a pairing with All-Star defenseman Seth Jones that Tortorella keeps coming back to whenever the team has needed stability, and Murray has been solid in his own zone while using his keen vision to make plays from the back end.
"He's just had a really good year," Tortorella said. "He's moved the puck out of the end zone. Knock on wood, he's been healthy. I think that's what's kept him away from being the player that we all know he can be and has shown."
Lineup Talk:Tortorella said the team would use the same lineup as the past three games, while Sergei Bobrovsky will get his fifth straight start in net and look for his fifth win in a row in the process.
That means rookie Eric Robinson will remain scratched along with the injured Brandon Dubinsky and defenseman Dean Kukan. Tortorella said he did not have an update on Dubinsky, who left the team's road trip last week to return to Columbus for an MRI on an injured hip. He was considered "day to day" at the time.
As for Robinson, who was called up Monday when Mark Letestu was returned to Cleveland, "That's a discussion we'll have to have here is how much time is he gonna sit here without playing games," Tortorella said. "I'm not looking to change the lineup right now. It's a question you go through all the time with a young guy because you want him playing games. We'll see where this game takes us and we'll make our decisions accordingly."