"I'll put it to you this way, I'm tired of talking about it," coach John Tortorella said Thursday, after the Blue Jackets practiced for a second straight day. "You need some action. It's a growth process for this team, for how you find yourself to get your game back to the standard it needs to be, and it can't always come from the coach."

Columbus was outplayed in the final two periods by the Devils, continued to struggle on the power play (0-for-6) and a core group of veteran leaders is still, collectively, in a funk.

That might seem a little extreme for a team in second place of the Metropolitan Division after 28 games, one point behind the first-place Devils, but not when put into context with the 27 contests that preceded it.

Rather than just gearing up for a rematch Friday against the New Jersey Devils (16-7-4), who defeated them, 4-1, on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena, the Jackets also did some soul-searching.

The coach, however, has his finger firmly on the pulse, where it's been since the start of the season.

The Jackets have put themselves in a great spot at this point, but lingering issues have become a bigger concern with the season more than a quarter of the way done.

"I have to take responsibility here too, as I said [Wednesday]," Tortorella said. "It's a big part of my job, is to try to get them to understand, put them in situations, try to help them when they're having problems. I will continue to do that, but there's no more talk about it. There's no more, 'Yeah, I'm getting my scoring chances, it's going to come.' No, we have to get something done now."

That means Friday night at Prudential Center, where the Devils will try to sweep this week's home-and-home set and put a tiny bit of breathing room between themselves and Columbus. Entering Thursday's action, only four points separated the top six teams in the Metro, with the Blue Jackets sitting in the same position New Jersey was in Tuesday - a point out of first.

This will be the third straight game against a division opponent for Columbus, and the Jackets haven't gotten a point out of the first two.

Tortorella is more concerned about his team's inner drive, which is something that's nearly impossible for a coaching staff to affect. He'd like his veterans to lead that effort of holding the team accountable on a game-to-game basis, but that's a tricky balance when it's the experienced guys slumping.

Among those still searching for their top gear include forwards Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner, Alexander Wennberg, Brandon Dubinsky and captain Nick Foligno, along with defensemen Jack Johnson and David Savard.

"The problem is it's the leadership group," Tortorella said. "Maybe I should have the young kids talk to the leadership group. It's kind of [backwards] here. I'm not talking about it anymore. They know where I stand. They're good people, and they're really good players, but you have to try to do something different if it's gone on this long. The onus falls on the player there, and we'll try to guide them from there."

News & Notes

-- Tortorella said each individual player who's struggling is a unique case. There's no magic pill to help all of them at once, and held up left wing Artemi Panarin as a specific example. Panarin has battled to find his top game this season, but recently started to look like himself again.

"I didn't like Panarin's game a couple of games ago," Tortorella said. "For three or four games prior to a couple of games ago, I didn't like his game, because he showed me when he first came here [that] he fights hard. He works hard, away from the puck, in the puck battles. That was gone for three or four games."

Tortorella talked to Panarin about it, and the results were immediate.

"I have one conversation with him," Tortorella said. "One conversation, and it was a really good two-way conversation. He has changed his game the last two games, and has been so effective as far as the puck battles, because he decided, 'OK, if that's what you think it is …' He changed it. He didn't wait. He didn't wait for it to happen. I think that's a great example of what I think some guys should look at, because he changed his game immediately, after that conversation."

-- Zach Werenski took 13 shots attempts against the Devils, and got a career-high 10 of them through for shots on goal. It's something he's been working on recently, after having more shots blocked this season than last year as a rookie.

"I don't think I've shot enough this year, and when I do have shooting lanes, I haven't gotten pucks there," Werenski said. "It's either missed the net or gotten blocked or tipped, or whatnot, so I'm trying to put more pucks on net. You never know with rebounds, and guys crashing there. It could hit off someone and go in. So, I'm just trying to put more pucks to the net, which is something we should do more as a team too."

-- Werenski felt "embarrassed" toward the end of the game against New Jersey on Tuesday, primarily because of the ongoing power-play issues.

The Jackets have generated 13 power-play opportunities in their past two home games, and have converted just one into a goal - including 0-for-6 against the Devils. They're are 2-for-42 over the last 15 games.

"Last game was kind of the first time where I felt embarrassed," Werenski said. "I kind of felt it on the power play, where it didn't help us. It kind of hurt us. We're going to move forward. We're going to go watch video, and we're going to try and connect as a unit, just talk about things we can do and talk about how we have to play."

-- Tortorella wasn't happy with the second and third defense pairings against New Jersey. That includes the second unit of Johnson and Savard, whom he's been dissatisfied with for a while.

"I don't know what they are," he said. "I can't call them our No. 2 pair. Quite honestly, the last game we had a pair going. I didn't like the other four at all in that game against [New Jersey], so I'm not sure what the No.2 pair is, and then when we get healthy, I'm not sure what's going to happen."

Ryan Murray is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and has missed four games. Markus Nutivaara has missed the past two with an upper-body injury. Nutivaara practiced Thursday, and will play if cleared medically.

"I'm not sure who's coming out," Tortorella said. "Flip a coin on all four of those guys, quite honestly."

There might also be a change coming on the fourth line. Tortorella said he's weighing whether to play Tyler Motte or Markus Hannikainen.