The forward ended a seven-game point drought with a first-period assist and a second-period goal, then did not play the final 6:34 of the third period or the 2:48 of overtime.
"I make decisions on players' ice times and where I put [them] all the time. Is it a benching? No, I didn't bench anybody last night," the Columbus coach said after practice Friday. "I just decided to play some other people in situations late in the third period that I felt more comfortable with at that time. Those are the calls I have to make running the bench."
Columbus led 4-1 in the third period before allowing four straight goals. Laine was on the ice when Florida scored to make it 4-2 and 4-3.
"I got scored on a couple of times, but you take out the one play where the puck was bouncing a little bit and I couldn't get it out and they end up scoring, I thought I played good," he said after the game. "I guess I thought wrong."
Laine played 18:44, second among Columbus forwards to Oliver Bjorkstrand (20:28), in a 4-3 overtime win against the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
Laine also was benched for the final 26:19 of a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 8, reportedly because of a verbal exchange with an assistant coach. That was his fourth game with Columbus after he was traded by the Winnipeg Jets for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois on Jan. 23.
Laine has scored 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 19 games with Columbus after he scored two goals with one assist in his only game with Winnipeg. He had not scored since Feb. 23 before Thursday.
"You guys think I don't [want to] play Patty? I mean, I [want to] play him," Tortorella said. "But I still have to make calls as far as how the players are playing at that particular time.
"There's no free passes because you're notably the top gun. I don't look at it that way. I look at what's happening right now as far as in those minutes in the hockey game and go that way. [Do I] make mistakes? Absolutely. But I'm certainly [going to] go with my stomach as far as what I feel is best at that particular time for the hockey club."
Dubois was benched by Tortorella two days prior to the trade in the first period of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, a week after the center's request to be traded was made public by the coach.
"I know all the drama starts with the benchings, and this and that, I don't get it," Tortorella said. "It's just my decisions as far as who I think is going to give us the best chance in those minutes."
Tortorella was given a public vote of confidence by Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen on March 2, when his coaching style was specifically addressed. The Blue Jackets (11-12-6) had lost three straight before Saturday after winning the first two after those comments.
"I think he has a great feel for even his own coaching style, when he needs to loosen up and when he needs to tighten the rope," Kekalainen said of Tortorella. "I work with him every day and we talk about those things every day, so he knows that sometimes he has to back off a bit and sometimes he needs to get a little closer. I do think that always has to start with the players in between [the ears]."
