Patrik Laine struggled in Columbus Blue Jackets debut after a nearly three-week layoff due to injury and his trade to the team.

The 22-year-old winger was a minus-2 and took high-sticking penalty in the 6-3 loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

"It was tough at the beginning," Laine said, per NHL.com. "The legs weren't quite there. My head was definitely not there. My hands were not there. And, obviously, a new system and linemates. But I'm not here to make excuses. I think I wasn't at the level I need to be for this team to be able to win."

"I've had one morning skate with the team and that's it," he added. "So it's not the ideal situation, but that's these circumstances. But it will be a really big team practice for me tomorrow [to] work on things and watch video for the new systems and how I played today. So it will be a good day tomorrow."

Laine arrived in Columbus on Friday and completed his 48-hour quarantine over the weekend before joining the Blue Jackets for their gameday skate on Tuesday. Having been previously sidelined with an upper-body injury, Tuesday marked his first game action since the Winnipeg Jets season opener on Jan. 14.

Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella, who gave Laine 20:54 of ice time – up more than four minutes from his lone game with the Jets – focused on the positives Tuesday night.

"I think he's looking for more shots to get on net, but he can pass the puck," Tortorella said. "That's one thing we can see right away. He can pass the puck and he's not afraid to make plays in traffic. … I think he played 20-plus (minutes). He's going to get that. That's how we're going to get him acclimated in some sort of conditioning, into game conditioning."

The Blue Jackets (4-4-3) will face the Stars again Thursday before hosting the Carolina Hurricanes for back-to-back games this weekend.