Zach Werenski will miss his second straight game for the Blue Jackets due to illness and captain Boone Jenner will sit for what the team is calling “maintenance” March 3 against the Nashville Predators at Nationwide Arena.
Werenski, the Jackets’ leading scorer and top defenseman, missed the first half of their back-to-back too, watching them fumble a 4-0 lead in the third period against the New York Rangers on March 2 at Madison Square Garden before Kirill Marchenko won it in overtime.
Jenner played in that game, but wasn’t available against the Predators and is considered day-to-day for an undisclosed issue. Kent Johnson, who missed the past two games as a healthy scratch, draws back into the lineup as Jenner’s replacement.
After winning a gold medal with the United States at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Werenski rejoined the Blue Jackets for their first two games following the NHL’s Olympic break. He played 28-plus minutes in a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Feb. 26 at TD Garden and a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Feb. 26 in Columbus.
Werenski has missed six games due to a foot injury and his current illness, which continues making its way through the Blue Jackets’ locker room. Despite getting two weeks away from each other for the Olympic break, the Jackets still had players sick when they returned to Feb. 18 for practice.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Zach Werenski, Boone Jenner out vs Nashville Predators
Reporting by Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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