February 9 morning skate notes

We’re in Columbus. It’s the afternoon here. Let’s get down to brass tacks, shall we?

Lines!

Gaborik – Kopitar – Brown
King – Carter – Toffoli
Lewis – Stoll – Williams
Clifford – Shore – Andreoff – Nolan

Notes!

-So, you may be noticing that only the forward lines are listed. That’s because only five defensemen took the ice, making the pairings mostly moot. Robyn Regehr was not present, though Darryl Sutter confirmed that he was given the morning off, saying “He skated yesterday.” There weren’t “line rushes” as much as there were “line rush-type drills,” though they upheld the alignment that was used in Tampa Bay on Saturday. Jonathan Quick left the ice first while Andy Andreoff and Martin Jones remained on the ice for extra work, so expect Quick to start and Nick Shore to center Kyle Clifford and Jordan Nolan.

-Alec Martinez (concussion-like symptoms) left the team to return home to Los Angeles.

-The Blue Jackets have been decimated by injuries this year. During Friday’s 7-1 win over St. Louis, they lost defensemen Ryan Murray and James Wisniewski in the third period, and Dalton Prout, who was expected to step into the lineup tonight, was not on the ice for the morning skate. Thus:

#CBJ D Dalton Prout absent from a.m. skate. Pairs: Johnson-Savard; Connauton-Leopold; Goloubef-Tyutin.

— Shawn Mitchell (@smitchcd) February 9, 2015

Columbus will add to its total of 324 man-games lost to injury this evening.

-There’s more to come from Ohio’s capital city. Darryl Sutter quotes are next, followed by stories on Marian Gaborik, Jamie McBain and, of course, the game preview. Stay tuned, Insiders.