Boone Jenner, Sean Kuraly to miss final three games for Blue Jackets
Bailey Johnson
TAMPA, Fla. — It was starting to look like a foregone conclusion, but the Blue Jackets made it official Tuesday morning that center Boone Jenner will miss the remainder of the season.
Jenner hasn't played since March 11 after a back injury he'd been trying to play through proved too severe to keep playing. Jackets coach Brad Larsen described Jenner at the time as a "crushed soul" when they made the decision to shut Jenner down on a week-to-week basis. At the time of the injury, Jenner led the Jackets in both goals and points with 23 and 44, respectively.
The Jackets also announced Tuesday that center Sean Kuraly will miss the final three games after suffering a broken toe in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Kuraly played 20:23 in that game with three shots on goal and a game-high five hits.
In his first year with the Jackets after signing in Columbus as a free agent, Kuraly set a new career-high of 14 goals and 30 total points in 77 games. He is second to Jenner in faceoff percentage at 49.4%, trailing Jenner's mark of 53.6%.
"We lose two very key guys that play a lot of real key situations," Larsen said. "But this is the time of year for us, in the position we're in, it forces us to look at some guys in different situations against some real good teams."