Jan Hejda's season of frustration might end the way it virtually began.

The Blue Jackets' top stay-at-home defenseman suffered a sprained right knee in the first period last night in a 5-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers and could be lost for the remainder of the season.

Team officials estimated that Hejda will miss three to four weeks. He played just four shifts, one after being slashed by Edmonton winger and former Jackets teammate Gilbert Brule.

The sprain is similar to the one he suffered to his left knee Oct.13 against Calgary. He was tabled for three weeks with that injury, and it took him an additional month to regain his form.

Hejda was a plus-43 during his first two seasons with the Blue Jackets. This season, however, has been a struggle as the knee problem, coupled with rotating blue-line partners, have not allowed him to find his comfort zone. He entered last night's game minus-14 with three goals and 10 assists.

In recent weeks, Hejda's play had picked up while being used alongside Marc Methot to form the club's top shutdown pair.

The injury leaves the Jackets without their top two defensive defensemen from the start of the season. Ironically, the club is supposed to learn today whether Rostislav Klesla, out since Nov.30, will be able to return this season.

Klesla had surgery to repair tears to his groin and abdomen.

During Klesla's rehab period, the team discovered he also had a tear in his hip. Klesla is seeing a hip specialist today in Nashville, Tenn., to find out if he requires additional surgery.

Even if surgery is avoided, there's a chance the club will not risk further injury to Klesla with the Jackets out of the playoff chase.

Boll hits head

Blue Jackets right winger Jared Boll was fortunate he escaped serious injury in a first-period fight against Theo Peckham. Boll was decisively winning the scrap when he lost his balance, fell backward and the back of his head struck the ice. His helmet became dislodged in the fight.

Boll finished the game, but said he had two lumps on his head.

"I have no idea how I ended up on the ice," he said. "You never want to hit your head like that, but it's the risk you take when you fight."

Illness update

The Jackets were without forward Rick Nash and defenseman Anton Stralman because of the stomach flu. Nash has missed the past four games because of a combination of lower-body injuries and illness.

Filatov stock drops

Jackets former No.1 draft pick Nikita Filatov, chosen by The Hockey News as the top prospect outside the NHL a season ago, slid to No.7 this season. The franchise, meanwhile, dropped from No.4 overall to No.10 in the magazine's Future Watch edition.

Filatov's decision to leave the Jackets in November to return to Russia and his subpar World Junior Championship hurt his ranking. The Jackets had just two players, Filatov and 2009 top pick John Moore, 18, ranked in THN's top-50 prospects.

Slap shots

Antoine Vermette had a goal and two assists, giving him 55 points for the season. The total eclipses his career high of 53 established during the 2007-08 season with Ottawa. The Jackets sent forward Maksim Mayorov to the minors following the game. He had no points in four games. Defenseman Fedor Tyutin played in his 400th NHL game.

treed@dispatch.com