Staying with Jones

As many have already pointed out in comments, Randy Jones had a rough night Wednesday against Chicago. Jones had a minus-3 rating and, by all accounts, was the defenseman who should have been back when Brad Richardson made his ill-advised neutral-zone pass that led to a turnover and Patrick Sharp’s breakaway overtime goal.

After Thursday’s practice, though, Terry Murray said Jones would stay in the lineup, and Murray offered a possible explanation for the poor game but forth by Jones, which Murray acknowledged.

MURRAY: “Yeah, he did. You know, he got hit by (Dustin) Byfuglien right there early in the second period, kind of a knee-on-knee. It stung him a bit. He was feeling the hit throughout the game, and it was a little bit of a concern for him when he was making a pivot to the boards. There was one shift when he did get beat wide, and it was the pain and the soreness that was the reason for it. But I talked to him this morning. He’s at the rink getting some treatment with Kinger [trainer Chris Kingsley] and it sounds like everything is good. I will keep him in. He is stable. It was more of a contusion that was causing it.”