What We Learned: NSH: 4, CBJ: 2

NASHVILLE - This one was about depth, for the most part.
Other than determining which team would be their opponent in the first round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Blue Jackets didn't have much else to gain from their regular-season finale Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.
So, coach John Tortorella gave a number of lineup regulars a breather and called upon the reserves to fill the void against the Nashville Predators, the NHL's best team in the regular season - who accepted the Presidents' Trophy prior to the game.
The Jackets fell short, losing 4-2, but they proved how deep their roster is by battling back from a 3-0 deficit after one period and hanging around long enough to pull goalie Joonas Korpisalo in the waning minutes of the third for an extra attacker.
"There was some rust on some guys early … but I thought as the game went on we competed hard and played well," coach John Tortorella said. "It's good to see some of the guys play and some of the kids play. We get out of there injury free and now we look to the most important thing."

Ah, yes, the most important thing: the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
A win in this game meant another first-round date with the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom the Blue Jackets have played twice before in the opening round - losing in 2014 and last season.
The loss means a first-round matchup with somebody new to Columbus in the postseason, the Washington Capitals, who won the Metropolitan Division with 105 points and won three of four games in the season series.
The Blue Jackets won the most recent meeting, routing the Capitals 5-1 on Feb. 26 at Nationwide Arena just hours after the passing of the NHL Trade Deadline. The addition of three veterans in trades prior to the deadline sparked Columbus, starting with that game and continuing through the month of March.
"We had some trouble with [the Capitals] before that game," said Brandon Dubinsky, whose first goal since Feb. 13 cut the Predators' lead to 3-2 with 12:40 left in the third period. "We didn't play our best [before that], so we know we can beat that team, especially with that game. But the playoffs are just a whole different environment and atmosphere, and our team is in a completely different place than it has been at any point in time that we've played that team. With the additions we made at the deadline and the way guys have stepped up here, I'm loving our team right now and the way we're going."
With that sorted out, the Blue Jackets and Capitals will now await the first-round schedule, which will be released at some point Sunday - after the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers conclude the regular season with a game that will determine the winner of the Atlantic Division.
As for this one, Filip Forsberg had a hat trick to lead the Predators, scoring two power-play goals in the first - including one with a second left to play - and putting his third into an empty net to seal the game.
Joonas Korpisalo started in net for Columbus, making 23 saves on 26 shots and all 11 he faced in the second and third combined.
Josh Anderson scored his 19th of the season and first since returning from a sprained knee Thursday against the Penguins, getting the Jackets on the board to cut the Nashville lead to 3-1 in the second.
"Being off for six weeks, you're a little rusty going into Pittsburgh," Anderson said. "I definitely wanted to come in today and play that playoff style. I wanted to be that force in the blue paint a little bit."
Here's what we learned:
I: WHAT IT MEANS
The loss dropped the Blue Jackets into the first wild card in the Eastern Conference with 97 points, pitting them against the Capitals in the first round.
The Penguins, who finished second in the Metropolitan Division, will face the Philadelphia Flyers. Columbus finished tied in points with the New Jersey Devils, who have the second wild card.
The Blue Jackets finished ahead of New Jersey via a tiebreaker, with more points in the head-to-head season series. The Devils still await their first-round opponent, which is dependent upon the outcome of a game Sunday between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers.

II: THE NEW LOOK
Tortorella was asked if his lineup decisions had anything to do with playoff positioning, specifically whether avoiding the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs was a factor.
"No, absolutely not," he said. "The biggest thing I wanted to make sure of was that this did not affect anything else going on through the league. I've been in the situation where, 'If that team beats that team, we're in.' We talked about it. It doesn't affect any of that and it gives me an opportunity to rest a couple of guys that have put a lot of minutes in."
Those who were scratched include Seth Jones and defense partner, Zach Werenski, plus left wing Artemi Panarin, right wing Cam Atkinson - two thirds of the top line - center Alex Wennberg and defenseman Ryan Murray.
III: REST > RECORDS …
The decision to rest a group of top players impacted a couple of statistical notes, as well.
Atkinson had a nine-game point streak coming into the game, which was tied for his career high with one he had last season. Streaks officially don't carry over from the end of one season to the beginning of another, so he'll have to put together 10 in a row next season in order to set a new career-high mark.
Atkinson is red hot heading into the postseason. After returning from a broken bone in his right foot Jan. 25 in Arizona, he had 18 goals, 15 assists and 33 points in 33 games. He finished the regular season with 24 goals, 22 assists and 46 points in 65 games.
Jones and Werenski also had a noteworthy stat affected by sitting out.
They'll now share the franchise record for goals in a single season by a defenseman. Each finished the season with 16 goals, which is tied for fourth-most among NHL defensemen with the Florida Panthers' Aaron Ekblad and Nashville's P.K. Subban.
Werenski trailed Jones by a goal but pulled even by scoring the first goal of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday at Nationwide Arena. The Jackets' top two defensemen are good friends and have played together almost exclusively since Werenski broke into the NHL last season as a rookie.
Sharing a franchise record, especially this one, is fitting.

IV: … EXCEPT FOR ROOKIE RECORDS
The second the puck hit the ice to start the game, center Pierre-Luc Dubois set another franchise record for rookies.
He's now the only Blue Jackets rookie to ever play all 82 games in his first NHL season, playing one more than William Karlsson in 2015-16 and Serge Aubin in 2000-01.
Dubois had previously set franchise records for goals (20) and points (48) by a rookie, moving past Rick Nash's 17 goals in 2002-03 and Werenski's 47 points last season. He finished third in assists by a rookie with 28, one behind Jakub Voracek's 29 in 2008-09 and eight back of Werenski's 36 last season.
V: CALLING ON 'KORPI'
Blue Jackets skaters weren't the only ones who got a breather. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky did, too, handling the backup role while Korpisalo made his 17th start and 18th appearance of the season.
Bobrovsky set a career-high by starting 65 games. He finished the season 37-22-6 with a 2.42 goals-against average and .921 save percentage. Starting Feb. 10 against the New Jersey Devils, Bobrovsky went 15-4-2 with a 2.24 GAA and .926 save percentage in his final 21 games.
Korpisalo allowed three goals on 15 shots in the first period, but two were scored on power plays and he made a number of difficult stops to keep the Predators from pulling even further ahead early.
Korpisalo finished the season 8-8-1 with a 3.38 goals-against average and .897 save percentage.

VI: WELCOME TO THE NHL
The result wasn't all that memorable, but rookie forward Eric Robinson made his NHL debut and will always remember it.
Robinson, who signed with the Blue Jackets on Mar. 26 as college free agent, was the first player on the ice for Columbus in warm-ups. His new teammates made sure the whole building knew it, staying back as the former Princeton captain skated a quick solo lap by himself.
"No one told me, but I'd obviously seen it before," Robinson said. "I kind of expected it and right before, they were all saying, 'Yeah, yeah, lead us out.' You kind of figure they're going to hold back and let you take a lap or two by yourself there. It's something everyone does for their first game, so it's kind of part of the process and it was really cool to have a second there to just look up and look around."
What he saw were thousands of yellow Predators jerseys, which masked the location of his parents and girlfriend, who flew in from New Jersey on Saturday to see the game. Robinson played 11:21 with a plus-1 plus/minus rating and two shots on goal.
"It was an amazing experience," he said. "It was one of the most fun times I've had playing hockey ever. It was obviously tough to get the loss ... but I thought the team did a really good job of battling back and keeping it a really good game. We had some chances in the third to tie it up. So, it was a really good game and a good experience."

VII: CHORNEY MAKES HIS DEBUT
Columbus had another debut, as well. Veteran defenseman Taylor Chorney made his Blue Jackets debut after being claimed off waivers Feb. 21 from the Capitals. He was a healthy scratch in the next 21 games, as the team's defensive depth affected him and a few others.
The Blue Jackets have 10 defensemen on the roster, which is three more than most teams carry and four more than most teams dress in games. Chorney was originally set to play against the Capitals on Feb. 26, the NHL's Trade Deadline day, but veteran defenseman Ian Cole was acquired that day from the Ottawa Senators and played instead.
"He's handled himself very well in a really crappy situation," Tortorella said. "You know how guys feel when they come to a new team. [He] wasn't playing a lot in Washington, comes to a new team thinking he's going to get an opportunity, was ready to play a game, deadline deal with Cole and I gas him. So, a number of things happened, but I'm glad he's going to get an opportunity to play."
Chorney, who skated with Jack Johnson, said it was good to get a game in before the playoffs begin. He'll go back to being an extra once the postseason begins, but wanted to get at least some game action in case he's called upon as an injury fill-in.
"[It's important] for anybody who's in this situation, where you're kind of that extra guy," Chorney said. "Playoff time, things can change so fast. It's more physical, guys are laying it on the line, so you never really know. It's nice to get out there and get a chance to play a game."
VIII: NEXT UP
The Blue Jackets flew back to Columbus and will next play Washington in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.