Tortorella gives lame excuses for why he benched Laine!

Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine did not play in the final 6:53 of regulation and did not get on the ice once in the 3-on-3 overtime Thursday night in Columbus’ 5-4 loss to the Florida Panthers. 

After the game, Laine said: “I thought I was playing good, but I guess I thought wrong.”

When asked why he left Laine on the bench, head coach John Tortorella attempted to explain his reasons, but they pretty much sounded like lame excuses. 

“You guys think I don’t want to play Patty? I mean, I want to play him,” Tortorella said Friday, according to team insider Jeff Svoboda. “But I still have to make calls as far as how the players are playing at that particular time.

“I thought Patty probably played one of his best periods in the first period,” he continued. “He played really well. But I also have to make calls as the rest of his game is going on where he is at that particular time, especially late in the third period and us reeling a little bit.

“There’s no free passes because you’re notably the top gun.”

The sad thing is that prior to the game, Laine was asked about his level of confidence in his game just before the game, and had answered this, almost breaking down as the talented player he is.Prior to Thursday’s game, Laine had been held without a point in seven straight games.

"Probably closer to zero, I would say, around there,” he said.

He snapped a seven-game pointless streak after tallying a goal and an assist. But that did not get him to be played in overtime. Torts refuses to admit he basically benched him. 

“I didn’t bench anybody last night,” he said, according to Svoboda. “I just decided to play some other people in situations late in the third period that I felt more comfortable with at that time.”

The Jackets fell in overtime despite the fact they held a 4-1 lead against the Panthers. The team currently sits in fifth place in the Central Division with a 10-12-6 record, and while Laine might not pulled a Pierre-Luc Dubois and demand a trade out of Columbus, we are starting to wonder if Tortorella is looking to get fired from the Blue Jackets…