Eric Robinson Will Make His NHL Debut Tonight, As The Blue Jackets Plan to Rest Many of Their Regulars

By Rob Mixer on April 7, 2018 at 12:41 pm
Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo
Bob DeChiara – USA TODAY Sports
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The Blue Jackets are emptying the bench.

A couple of reasons stand out:

1. They have a bunch of guys who haven't played in a while, and they don't control their destiny tonight.

2. They can kind of control their destiny by losing. 

So, they're sitting a host of regulars tonight against the Nashville Predators in Game 82 of the regular season. Joonas Korpisalo starts in goal, looking to bounce back from a shaky outing last weekend in Vancouver. 

Eric Robinson, signed last month as a NCAA free agent from Princeton, makes his NHL debut. Defenseman Taylor Chorney, claimed off waivers from Washington earlier in the season, will make his Blue Jackets debut. 

Alex Broadhurst, who played less than six minutes in his NHL debut earlier this week, gets another game. 

Not much of a surprise here, but it sounds as though Artemi Panarin will be among those regulars sitting out this game for the Blue Jackets. Sergei Bobrovsky is obviously in that group, as well.

It makes for an interesting night in Nashville; the Blue Jackets can fall into a wild card spot and face the Washington Capitals with a loss and a win by the Devils (or any difference of one point that favors New Jersey). They'll never say it, but avoiding the Pittsburgh Penguins is the way to go and tonight's lineup doesn't suggest otherwise.

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