In some ways, the preseason slate of eight games for the Columbus Blue Jackets was about who was missing among the forwards as much as who was there.
Two of the top four forwards in terms of goal scoring from last year are no longer on the team in Brandon Saad (24 goals) and Sam Gagner (18). Also on the shelf with a back injury is Boone Jenner (18 goals) while unsigned is Josh Anderson, whose 17-goal rookie effort has led to a prolonged contract disagreement.
So it was nice Saturday to see a familiar face back in the lineup in Brandon Dubinsky. The veteran centerman missed the first seven games of the preseason as he rehabbed a wrist injury, but there he was against Pittsburgh, playing his usual game in all 200 feet of ice and working his way into the heads of the opposition.
“He’s a pain in the ass,” head coach John Tortorella told reporters afterward. “He’s yelling at everybody, but he brings that element to us. He’s a big part of our identity, and for his first game in the exhibition season, I thought he was outstanding.”
In some ways, it was a perfect time for Dubinsky to return given the black-and-gold squad on the other side of the ice. His personal battles with the Penguins and Sidney Crosby – not to mention his personal successes, from the game-tying goal in the final moments of Game 4 of the 2014 playoffs to his overtime winner last year vs. the Pens – have framed his career as a Blue Jacket in many ways.
In his return, Dubinsky centered a line with rookie winger Pierre-Luc Dubois and pugnacious winger Matt Calvert. He nearly contributed to a goal, being stuffed on an early wraparound and setting up Ryan Murray for a shot that was denied theatrically by goalie Matt Murray, among the six scoring chances he was on the ice for at 5-on-5 vs. three against, per Natural Stat Trick.
Matt Murray with two insane saves to keep it a 0-0 game. Wowza.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/II4KLllPNj
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) September 30, 2017
In all, Dubinsky finished his night as a plus-1 while delivering six hits in 16:24 of action, which included both power-play and shorthanded time. But more importantly than that, his head coach said, were the intangibles the feisty center brought.
“He’s a piece of work, but we need him on the bench,” Tortorella said. “He drags everybody into it. That’s very encouraging because he had a lot of work done there, and it’s good that he got this game because now I think he can feel that he can play the games, so it’s good to have him on the ice.”
Dubinsky, for his part, didn’t throw a party afterward. After all, it was just a preseason game, and the Alaska native has played in 700 career regular-season contests in his previous 11 seasons.
“I’ve been doing this long enough that I know what to expect when the regular season comes around,” he said. “It’s going to be a different level than it was tonight, I know that. It was just nice to be back on the ice with these guys.”
At the same time, it was perhaps a good way to get Dubinsky on the ice simply to shake off any rust left after missing the opening seven preseason games. With the Blue Jackets facing a paucity of centers at the moment – so much so that longtime winger Nick Foligno will open the season in the middle of the ice – Dubinsky adds a level of normalcy to the equation, not to mention the 12 goals and 29 assists he had a season ago.
And if there were any questions about Dubinsky’s health, he put them to rest in his first game of the year in union blue.
“I don’t think I would be playing tonight if there was even a question if I could play on Friday,” he said. “I’ll be ready to go.”
