Korpisalo is giving Jackets solid play
It had to be tempting. After watching Sergei Bobrovsky stonewall the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday at Nationwide Arena — looking like a two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy while making 46 saves in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 win — coach John Tortorella could’ve easily stuck with the hot hand.
They had a tough finale to a home/road backto-back Saturday at the Boston Bruins, a team hungry to end a threegame skid, and it was also St. Patrick’s Day in a city that treats that holiday like Christmas. Nobody would’ve blinked twice had Bobrovsky played.
Instead, as he’s done a number of times this season, Tortorella went with Joonas Korpisalo, who responded with a 31-save effort to make sure Columbus earned another point in a 2-1 overtime loss to start a four-game trip.
“It means a lot that they trust to put me in a game in Boston, backto-back, second game,” said Korpisalo, who has responded in similar fashion a number of times this year. “It feels great, and of course, I try to do my best to redeem it.”
He’s trying his best to prove something else, too.
Should Bobrovsky sign elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent July 1, which has become the expected outcome of his unresolved contract situation, Korpisalo wants to be first in line to replace him.
He’ll be 25 in April, has four NHL seasons under his belt and knows the Blue Jackets have a number of promising goaltending prospects behind him — including Europeans Elvis Merzlikins and Veini Vehvilainen, who are closest to Nhl-ready.
Bobrovsky still owns the Blue Jackets’ net for the rest of this season, but Korpisalo’s time to shine is now. He’s taking full advantage of it — going 4-4-1 with a 2.28 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 12 games since the NHL’S Christmas break.
“I feel my game is getting better all the time, especially after Christmas,” Korpisalo said. “I’ve not been in too many games lately, but … my goal is to go out there and try to enjoy every game. It’s fun to play hockey.”
If that’s the case, he’s having a lot more fun than the previous two seasons. Korpisalo has appeared in 24 games and started 19, which is more appearances and starts than he got in each of the past two seasons.
It’s less than his 31 appearances and 30 starts in 2015-16, when he handled the starting role as a rookie while Bobrovsky was injured, but Tortorella made it a point to use him more this season.
“This season is so long and to get in the playoffs, you need both goalies playing well and getting in there, doing their jobs,” goalie coach Manny Legace said. “(Korpisalo’s) still got to play well. That’s the only way it works, is if he plays well, because if he doesn’t, Torts will go, ‘He’s not playing,’ especially if there’s no back-to-back situation. Your backup needs to get points, and he’s done his job so far.”
It could be one of the hidden keys to how this season plays out. Since Jan. 18, Bobrovsky has logged the fifth-most time in net among all NHL goalies — playing 18 of the past 21 games and amassing 1,237:40 in ice time.
That’s a heavy workload, but Korpisalo — along with the acquisition of Keith Kinkaid at the trade deadline — gives the Jackets a luxury few teams possess in net.
“Korpi’s been good for us all year long,” Tortorella said. “Bob’s coming on. Bob’s played very well, so Korpi just keeps himself ready. The last couple games (he’s played), he has stood in there really strong for us in a tough situation where he hasn’t played much.”