Korpisalo learns from Bobrovsky
Every goaltender in the NHL spent last season looking up to Sergei Bobrovsky. Joonas Korpisalo just had a closer view than the rest.
What he saw was enough to give the 23-year-old backup the belief that he, too, is more than capable of being an elite NHL goaltender.
“Of course I’m happy for him, and when I saw he won the Vezina Trophy, that’s more motivation for me because I’m right in there,” Korpisalo said recently. “Practicing with him every day, you can see it from the best. I try to be better than him. That’s a good motivator, and it keeps me working
even harder.”
After the Blue Jackets sent Anton Forsberg to Chicago as part of the summer trade headlined by Artemi Panarin, the implication was clear that Korpisalo is ready to serve as the main understudy for the league’s two- time goalie of the year. That had already been emphasized two weeks before the deal with the Blackhawks, when the Blue Jackets signed Korpisalo to a two- year contract extension through the 2018-19 season.
As a rookie in 201516, Korpisalo was thrust into action when injuries felled both Bobrovsky and Curtis McElhinney. He posted a 16- 11- 0 record with a .920 save percentage and 2.60 goals- against average. Last season, as Bobrovsky was stellar, Korpisalo made only 13 starts, posting a .905 save percentage and a 2.88 GAA.
It wasn’t quite the season he had hoped for. It seldom is for a backup.
“The thing I’ve learned is how you do your job every day, and if you play good, you get more games, obviously,” Korpisalo said. “You’ve got to be patient. It’s hard to be patient sometimes, but I think I’m a little bit more experienced.”
That much was on display Saturday night in Chicago. Against a veteran- laden lineup, Korpisalo stopped 52 of 54 shots in a 3- 2 win, the first by the Jackets in the preseason.
His performance stood in stark contrast to his preseason debut, in which he allowed five goals on 21 shots in a 5- 2 loss to the Blackhawks — a game in which Forsberg made 38 saves.
“We’re trying to figure out that backup position,” coach John Tortorella said in Chicago. “It’s a great rebound (game) by him because he struggled in his first game. That’s what Korpi has done all the time since I’ve known him: Nothing bothers him. If he has a bad outing, it just rolls off him, and he gets ready for the next play.”
Korpisalo didn’t mince words about his first preseason game, calling it “horse( crap).” One game later, he made more saves than in any other game he could immediately recall.
With two goaltenders in the Jackets camp on tryouts, Korpisalo said he’s not taking anything for granted — either above or below him on the depth chart.
“I just do my best, and we’ll see how it goes,” he said. “There’s guys coming from the back to get your place, and I’m in a place right now where I’m trying to get Bob’s place. It doesn’t matter if you’re first, second, third or fourth, there’s always a guy behind you.”