Atkinson looking to 'play loose' after using scratch to reset season

Cam Atkinson got a text message Sunday that turned into a pep talk.
It also turned into a phone conversation with retired star forward Marty St. Louis, somebody Atkinson has long admired. St. Louis, an undersized scoring machine when he played, wanted to check in with Atkinson, who was scratched in the Blue Jackets' 1-0 victory Saturday night against the Arizona Coyotes.
St. Louis, who played 16 NHL seasons for three teams and finished his career with 1,033 points, brought a unique perspective to the chat. He also played for Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, when they won the Stanley Cup together in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"He has a comfort level playing with Torts, as well, from Tampa, and they've gotten into some pretty good arguments," Atkinson said Monday, after returning to the top power-play unit and third line in practice. "He's the type of guy who just lets you know what you are as a player, and it's pretty cool when you have guys like that you can look up to, and they're one phone call away."

St. Louis' message was simple: find the fun again, and don't overthink the current situation.
Atkinson, 28, hasn't had a point in six games since Nov. 11, when he signed a seven-year contract extension worth $41.125 million. He has four points (two goals, two assists) in 14 games since Nov.7, when he returned from a lower-body injury that sidelined him four games.
"It's not over-thinking it," Atkinson said. "It's just going out there, and having fun. Just let your instincts take over."
Over-thinking things wasn't an issue last season.
Atkinson set career highs in games (82), goals (35), assists (27), points (62), plus/minus (plus-13) and average ice time (18:05). This season, through 25 games, he has nine points (six goals, three assists) and a minus-1 rating. He's averaging a career-high 18:16 a game.
Asked to list some topics from his talk with St. Louis that were most useful, Atkinson sighed before answer.
"There's a lot," he said. "You know, [it's] just realizing that you are a pretty damn good player. Columbus has all the confidence in the world in you, you just got a nice extension and it's just going out there and not [trying to prove] to people that you want to be a type of guy that lives up to this contract. [It's] just going out there and playing the game. Don't take anything for granted. It goes by really fast, so just live in the moment and have fun."
There hasn't been much fun yet, but Atkinson said the healthy scratch, his first under Tortorella's coaching tenure, is a way to start over.
"It's kind of one of those things where, once you go down that dark alley, one thing leads to another, and it's hard to kind of get out of it," he said. "It's not so much pointing the fingers, but sometimes you tend to blame, you know … your teammates or linemates. That's something you can't do, and it's something I've tried not to do. One thing just led to another, and being a healthy scratch was probably the best thing for me, honestly. It gives you a chance to hit the reset button, look in the mirror, watch some film and realize the things that you do well and just get back to doing that."
News & Notes
-- Atkinson was back with two familiar faces during practice. He skated with left wing Boone Jenner and center Brandon Dubinsky, whom he's been put with most often. They've yet to click this season, but Tortorella said his decision is about past seasons together.
"Boone's in the same boat as Cam," Tortorella said of Jenner, who's also off to a slow start. "It was just a good line last year, and I want to try and go back to it, but [Jenner] certainly has to get going too."
--Tortorella shoulders some responsibility for the poor starts of a contingent of veterans that includes Atkinson, Jenner, captain Nick Foligno, Jack Johnson and David Savard.
"I'm not looking to hate players," he said. "I'm looking to run a team, and try to get the players to be the best they can be. Quite honestly, this is my responsibility, and I think I have failed a little bit in this part, where I have so many of our top guys not playing that well. That's my job, to try to help them, and I certainly have to look at myself here and try different ways to try and help them."

--Tuesday's opponent, the Edmonton Oilers, have forward Jesse Puljujarvi at right wing on the top line, playing with captain Connor McDavid. Edmonton selected Puljujarvi fourth overall in 2016, one spot after the Blue Jackets drafted rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois.
It was assumed during that draft that Jarmo Kekalainen, Columbus' Finnish general manager, would take Puljujarvi, a Finnish star prospect. Selecting Dubois was surprising, but it's working out great now.
Dubois is the Jackets' top center, playing with Artemi Panarin and Josh Anderson, and Tortorella doesn't think the pressure of where he was picked will rattle him - even going head to head with Puljujarvi. Dubois just had two head-to-head matches last week against New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier, the No. 1 overall pick in 2017, and played well.
"It doesn't affect him," Tortorella said. "I think that's basically what I've gotten out of it, in the conversations I've had with him. He's not too worried about it. He thinks maybe other people are worried about it, but he's ahead of the game as far as not getting too concerned about all that stuff, and just worrying about being the best player he can be."
-- Face-offs is one area Tortorella is cautious with in using Dubois, as the rookie has won just 39.3 percent of his draws. Young centers often struggle in this part of the game, and Dubois is no exception.
"I haven't used him a lot in the defensive zone," Tortorella said. "Like I told him on the bench, I said, 'I don't trust you. I don't trust you yet, as far as face-offs are concerned.' That's the part of the game he's going to continue to work on. That's going to have to be part of [his] game, as he keeps growing, but one step at a time. I do not want to rush through this, and put too many false expectations on him, as he's still learning to be a pro [and] to understand what it is to be in the National Hockey League."
-- Foligno was asked about defending McDavid, one of the fastest and most skilled players in the world. McDavid was ill for much of November, but has fully recovered based on his play this past weekend in Montreal and Toronto.
First, Foligno gave a standard answer.
"He's one of the best players in the league," he said. "It's always dangerous when he's on the ice. Whether he's feeling good or not, he's a big part of their engine. We've got to be cognizant of him and a few of their other guys, but just play our game."
Foligno's secondary comment was more revealing, showing how far the Blue Jackets have come since the start of last season. In that timeframe, Columbus has the most combined regular-season wins (69) in the NHL outside of the Washington Capitals (73).
"I think we're a team now that understands that no matter who we're playing against, if we don't play the right way, we're not giving ourselves a chance to win," Foligno said. "It's more about us than any other team, which is a great sign of where this team's going and the direction we're headed."