Good news has been in short supply for the Blue Jackets lately. Yesterday, they got two small doses.

Left winger Rick Nash was named to represent the Western Conference in the NHL All-Star Game for the third straight season and the fourth time in his career.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that his lower-body injury -- thought to be a sprained left knee -- will keep him out of this weekend's games but is not a long-term injury. The club's captain and leading scorer walked without a limp yesterday.

"It was a bit stiff this morning," Nash said, "but hopefully it won't be too long of an injury. I really don't think it will be."

Suffering under a crush of injuries, the Blue Jackets found themselves wondering what else could go wrong.

In the first period of Tuesday's 3-0 loss to Detroit, the Jackets got an unfortunate answer when Nash slammed legs first into the boards after getting tangled with Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski.

It appeared that Nash's weight was absorbed by his left knee when it slammed into the boards. He played two more shifts in the first period but didn't return for the second and third, instead joining six other Blue Jackets regulars on the shelf.

In addition, two other players -- wingers Jared Boll and Fredrik Modin -- are so banged up they can't practice, and backup goaltender Pascal Leclaire has had his ankle checked by a specialist.

"It's really tough for us right now," Nash said. "It would be nice to be able to play since a lot of other guys are down and out, but I'm not going to jeopardize it by playing one game now and, you know, maybe missing a lot of games because of it.

"If it were a playoff game, and our doctors and trainers said I could play, I'd try to play through it. But I saw a doctor and he recommended I not."

The Blue Jackets thus will play the high-flying Washington Capitals on Friday in Verizon Center and the hard-skating Minnesota Wild on Saturday in Nationwide Arena without their top three scorers and without four of their top six forwards.

Amid the injuries, left winger Nikita Filatov was the latest player to be called up from minor-league Syracuse. He joined the Blue Jackets yesterday, a day after joining the Crunch and two days after ending an impressive run at the World Junior Championships in Ottawa.

The influx of unfamiliar players has given coach Ken Hitchcock pause. How to put together forward lines? How to run the power play, with a slew of players who don't have NHL experience, much less a firm grasp of the Jackets' breakout or puck entry into the zone?

"We have to play well," Hitchcock said. "We have to persevere. We have to keep it going so that when the players do come back, we don't need them to rescue us."

Hitchcock sees the All-Star Game break this month as a target date.

If the Blue Jackets can still be in the playoff hunt when Nash heads off to Montreal for the game, they should be close to full health when play resumes on the other side.

That's seven games from now.

"I've been through this before in Philadelphia," winger R.J. Umberger said. "You have to play strong, defensively sound and you have to check hard.

"Hustle and determination can get you through this."

aportzline@dispatch.com