Blue Jackets goalies have little time to get on track
Ordinarily, it wouldn’t be much of a concern to see numerous pucks getting past a goaltender during scrimmages this early in a training camp.
But most training camps are held in September, before an NHL season, and last nearly a month. They also include five or six preseason games, and after that goalies might still need a couple of more weeks of playing regularly to hone their timing and pucktracking skills.
In other words, there’s plenty of time. And that’s what is unique about the training camps the Blue Jackets and 23 other NHL teams are now conducting. It’s only week 2 of camps intended to prepare teams for the league’s adopted format to finish the 2019-20 season and time is already running out for goalies.
“We practice a lot and it’s a little bit different than games,” said Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo, who had a tough start to this week by allowing 13 goals split between scrimmages Monday and Tuesday at the Ohiohealth Ice Haus.
“Of course, the intensity is really high (in practices), but it’s a different situation on the ice when it’s game time,” Korpisalo said. “Timing-wise and things (like that), there’s a lot more happening when it’s a real game, so it’s a little bit different.”
Finding that timing is key for Korpisalo, fellow Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins and other goalies in the upcoming postseason. Merzlikins hasn’t allowed nearly as many goals as Korpisalo in four scrimmages, but also hasn’t faced as many prime scoring chances.
Those hoping for an assessment of the goalie competition from coach John Tortorella or goaltending coach Manny Legace haven’t gotten one yet — Tortorella declined to speak with reporters after a simulated game Tuesday — and there’s a good chance it might not happen until a decision is made.
The Blue Jackets begin the postseason Aug. 2 with Game 1 of a five-game series in the qualifying round against the Toronto Maple Leafs on their home ice at Scotiabank Arena. That’s in 11 days and there will only be one preseason game, July 30 against Boston, for the Jackets to see both goalies in a true game setting.
Neither has a shred of playoff experience in the NHL, either.
“I’m not questioning, ‘How are they going to handle it?’ ” Tortorella said last week, after saying both goalies proved themselves in the regular season. “I’m anxious to see who steps up and takes it, because it’s not going to be my decision. It’s going to be their decision, as far as who carries the ball here in (the) playoffs. I’m sure they’re both very excited for this opportunity.”
Korpisalo might be a little less enthusiastic at the moment. He took a lot of lumps in the Jackets’ past two scrimmages, allowing all six goals in a 6-0 loss Monday and then allowing four goals in the third period of a 7-3 defeat on Tuesday.
To a casual observer, his timing appears off after four-plus months spent in Finland during the pandemic. That usually takes time and game action to correct, and those are two things that are scarcities for goalies of every playoff team.
Across NHL camps, Korpisalo probably is not alone in his early struggles to stop the puck, but there isn’t much time for him or other scuffling backstops to find a comfort level.
“I’ve never played any playoff hockey in the NHL and I’m looking forward to it,” Korpisalo said last week. “It’s a five-game series, so there’s no time to playany‘off’games.you’vegottobereadyonday1.”
The Blue Jackets are counting on it, whether Korpisalo or Merzlikins is in net.
“I feel a lot better about this situation (being) new to them than (when) it was new to them coming to play a regular season, because I think they’ve grown mentally,” Tortorella said. “I do think both of them pull for one another and it’s a really healthy situation with those two guys. I’m anxious to see how it plays out.” bhegder@dispatch.com @Brianhedger