Hurricanes’ Eric Robinson exits game against Sabres with injury
In a matinee on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Carolina Hurricanes lost winger Eric Robinson to an upper-body injury.
During the first period of the Hurricanes’ game against the Buffalo Sabres, Robinson was attempting to jam home a loose puck when Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin delivered a hit to Robinson’s shoulder as he looked to clear the crease.
A scrum ensued, but Robinson stayed down favoring his left shoulder after the hit. Robinson went down the tunnel to the locker room after the play, and Carolina announced that Robinson would not return to the game during the first intermission.
The sequence that ended Eric Robinson's afternoon:
Eric Robinson (upper body injury) will not return to today’s game against Buffalo
Robinson, a 30-year-old native of New Jersey, has carved out a niche on the Hurricanes’ fourth line since joining the team as a free agent ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
His first season in Raleigh saw him put up a career-high 32 points on 14 goals and 18 assists in 82 games played. That effort earned him a raise ahead of this year, as he agreed to a four-year contract with an average annual value of $1.7 million to stay put with the Hurricanes.
This season, he’s on track to roughly match his output from a season ago, as he has 10 goals and 5 assists in 43 games played. This is Robinson’s second injury of the year, as he missed a stretch from October 23 to November 8 earlier on.
Monday’s game between Carolina and Buffalo marked a showdown between the first-place team in the Eastern Conference and the hottest team in the conference in Buffalo, which is looking to snap a 14-year playoff drought.
The Sabres entered the game in possession of the East’s second wild card spot thanks to an extended run of hot play that dates back to an overtime win over Edmonton on December 9.