Preview: Tortorella stresses 'composure' during tough stretch

GAME 16: HURRICANES (5-5-3) AT BLUE JACKETS (9-6-1)
NATIONWIDE ARENA, 7 P.M., FRIDAY
TV: FOX SPORTS OHIO/FOX SPORTS GO
RADIO: CD102.5 FM & BLUEJACKETS.COM
The Blue Jackets are getting their first taste of adversity this season.
Columbs heads into this game against the Carolina Hurricanes with a three-game losing streak (0-2-1), two role-playing forwards on injured reserve (Matt Calvert and Lukas Sedlak), might not have fourth-line center Zac Dalpe (upper body) and has a 4-5-1 record in the past 10 games.
Each of the Jackets' past three games has been close, including a 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on home ice Tuesday, but staying close isn't the goal.
"I think [Friday's] a pretty important game for us, just not to lose our wits about ourselves [and] just handle it with a little bit of composure," coach John Tortorella said Thursday after practice. "Let's find a way to win a game, and it could be an ugly game. It could be we don't play nearly as good as the other night, but you need to keep your composure, go about your business, try to be the best you can be, and find a way to win a game."

Tortorella spent part of the off day Wednesday going over the Blue Jackets' 3-1 loss Tuesday to Nashville, looking for areas of weakness. He didn't find many.
"I told you guys (reporters) we won some games this year that we didn't deserve to win, and we're going to lose some games we deserve to win," Tortorella said. "The last game was one of them for me, because I broke that game down [Wednesday], and we did a lot of good things in that game. [We] held them to eight or nine scoring chances. We had 16 or 17. We couldn't beat [goalie Pekka Rinne]. I don't think we were in front of him enough. I thought that was the weakest part of our game. We played a good hockey game."
Columbus played that game with seven defensemen dressed and 11 forwards. Dalpe was scratched, which meant Gabriel Carlsson returned from an 11-game injury absence to play the role of the seventh blue-liner.
Tortorella isn't sure whether he will dress 11 or 12 forwards against Carolina. He is more certain that regular-season rough patches like this can pay off later, such as adverse situations in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"That's very important for this team, to go through these things," he said. "If you go through 'em, and you have the opportunity to maybe play in the playoffs - and you still have to get there - I think you're better ready for playoffs when you go through some of the bumps. So, I don't mind this. You hate losing, but there are good teaching games and it's a good situation for a young team, how you handle yourself."
SERIES RECORD
2017-18 Season: (1-0-0). This is the second of four games this season. The Blue Jackets will host the Hurricanes on Nov. 28 and play the finale of the season series Dec. 16 at PNC Arena.
All-time: 15-13-3 overall; 7-6-1 at Nationwide Arena
"BY THE NUMBERS"
EYES ON: THE HURRICANES
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
QUOTABLES
"The places to shoot pucks are there. We just want to make an extra pass. That frustrates you even more, because it's one of those [things where] you're on the bench and you're ready for a shot, and you see a pass." - Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, on his team's tendency to pass too much during power plays.
"I don't care what you are, what pick, what money you make, all that [stuff]. I want you to play, and I want you to play for your teammates. I think 'Wennie' has it in him. I'm not condemning him, but I need to see it. It's the eye test. It's not analytics. It's an eye test. I need to see it." -Tortorella, on what he's looking for from center Alexander Wennberg.
"I'm not looking to kick him. I'm looking to try to help him, because I think if he gets his game back, we've got something going up the middle of the ice. So, we'll see where it goes." - Tortorella on taking center Alexander Wennberg off the power play the past two games.
"It's up to me to show it, then, right?" - Wennberg, on Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella wanting him to prove he belongs on the power play.
"The timing's probably the biggest thing for me. Probably the first two shifts I'm going to keep it simple and just get my feet wet again. It was three games, but a week feels like a month in terms of coming back." - Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce, who will play after missing three games with a concussion.
"It feels like a lot of teams have one or two defensemen who are really jumping into the play, and this team obviously has two defensemen who really want to jump into the play. They've got some really talented young D-men here that we've got to watch out for. We have to beat them up ice. Otherwise, it's going to be dangerous on the second wave." - Hurricanes center Marcus Kruger, on Blue Jackets defensemen Zach Werenski and Seth Jones.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
HURRICANES
Forward lines
Sebastian Aho - Jordan Staal - Teuvo Teravainen
Jeff Skinner - Derek Ryan - Elias Lindholm
Brock McGinn - Victor Rask - Justin Williams
Joakim Nordstrom - Marcus Kruger - Josh Jooris
Defense pairings
Jaccob Slavin - Justin Falk
Haydn Fleury - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Noah Hanifin - Brett Pesce
Goaltenders
Cam Ward
Scott Darling
Out: Klas Dahlbeck, Patrick Brown, Lee Stempniak (conditioning stint)
Injured reserve: None
BLUE JACKETS
Forward lines
Artemi Panarin - Alexander Wennberg - Cam Atkinson
Pierre-Luc Dubois - Nick Foligno - Josh Anderson
Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Sonny Milano -Tyler Motte
Defense pairings
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Jack Johnson - David Savard
Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara - Gabriel Carlsson
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Out:Scott Harrington, Zac Dalpe (upper body)
Injured reserve:Lukas Sedlak (ankle), Matt Calvert (upper body)
Lineup note:Tortorella could go with seven defensemen and 11 forwards again if Dalpe can't play.