The toughest question Blue Jackets interim coach Todd Richards faced in his postgame news conference tonight came when he was asked for a rundown on the club’s injured players.

Seriously, who could keep it straight?

The Blue Jackets lost another game — 4-2 to the Dallas Stars before 15,943 in Nationwide Arena — and they lost two more players to long-term injuries.

Defenseman Marc Methot was struck in the left side of the face by a puck just before the Stars took a 2-0 lead only 4:21 into the game. After writhing on the ice for nearly a minute, Methot skated to the dressing room with a towel pressed to his face, a pool of blood left on the ice.

He suffered a broken jaw, Richards said, and is likely lost for the rest of the season.

Right winger Jared Boll suffered a broken right foot after being struck by a shot from Dallas defenseman Sheldon Souray only 3:00 into the game. Boll played through two periods but did not come out for the third and might be done for the season, too.

“Just when you feel like the team is starting to get healthy,” Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash, “we lose another guy or two. It’s been like that all season for us. It’s been tough.”

The Blue Jackets fell behind 3-0 only 1:09 into the second period, and — with only five defensemen at Richard’s disposal — figured to be in for a long night.

Instead, the Blue Jackets rallied, making the game interesting until the final minute.

Vinny Prospal and Rick Nash had power play goals less than four minutes apart in the second period to pull the Jackets to 3-2. With 90 seconds to play, the Jackets pulled goaltender Curtis Sanford for an extra skater. They created more havoc than legitimate scoring chances, but the crowd still was on its feet.

“I thought we were going to get it,” winger R.J. Umberger said, referring to a tying goal. “On a personal level, I thought I was going to get one. I had two really good chances and I couldn’t get it to go.”

The Stars got a 100-foot empty-net goal from Jamie Benn with 0.9 of a second remaining to provide the final score.

“I liked the way we battled,” Richards said. “I liked the way we fought back. The problem is, we weren’t ready at the start and we dug ourselves a hole. We couldn’t overcome that deficit, but we fought all the way to the end. It would have been an easy situation, down 3-0 (early in the second period), to just close up shop for the night.”

The injuries to Methot and Boll will prompt the Blue Jackets to recall at least one defensemen, but perhaps a forward, too. They practice on Friday in Nationwide, then play on Saturday at Minnesota and on Sunday at home against Anaheim.

Defensemen James Wisniewski (ankle) and Nikita Nikitin (knee), and forward Mark Letestu (broken hand) are close to returning but won’t be ready by Saturday, Richards said.

“The easiest thing for us to control right now is being spoilers, trying to come in and play our hearts out,” Umberger said. “It’s not where you want to be in your season. The key word we keep talking about in here is ‘pride’, and playing until the whistle blows.

“We’re banged up. We’ve lost a lot of guys. But we still want to win games.”

aportzline@dispatch.com