It’s been an up and down season for Joonas Korpisalo, literally and figuratively. As the back-up to Sergei Bobrovsky he doesn’t see much action. He’s played 14 games this season, matching his total from a year ago.
When he's got into games this season you never knew what Korpisalo you were going to get. He seemed to alternate between good starts and bad starts. It’s tough situation to be in, as a back-up goalie you usually play the second half of back to backs in front of a tired team. That sporadic playing time can be difficult as well; it’s tough to really get into a rhythm when you only play a couple games a month.
In order to keep Korpisalo sharp and get him some game action, the Blue Jackets have been sending him down to the AHL when they get the chance. Whenever the Jackets have had the weekend off, or had an extended break during the season, they have sent Korpisalo to Cleveland. They have done this eight times already this season. To his credit Korpisalo has taken this in stride and done very well in the AHL. In eight games in front of a very poor Monsters team Korpisalo has posted a .924 save percentage. That’s the eighth highest save percentage in the league among goalies who have played at least eight games.
Those games I think have really helped Korpisalo stay game ready and helped keep his confidence up when he has been struggling. The team knew at some point this season they were going to need Korpisalo and when he was called upon in the biggest game of the season, he was ready.
The back-up goalie is one of those positions that doesn’t matter too much, until it does. The Jackets for years had Curtis McElhinney has their back-up. He was basically there to sit on the bench. He’d get the odd spot start or occasional mop-up duty but not much more. He was fine in that role but problems arose when Sergei Bobrovsky was forced to miss time and McElhinney had to start.
That’s why you need to have a competent back-up, and this is part of the reason why the Jackets paid a high price to protect Korpisalo in the expansion draft. You need a goalie you can trust in big games if the starter can’t go. In what’s the most important homestand of the season, Bobrovsky has been ill and unable to play. Korpisalo stepped up and was incredible against Vegas and needs to be good again tonight against Colorado.
Korpisalo has looked razor sharp tonight: pic.twitter.com/7m8UHzSnaG
— The Cannon (@cbjcannon) March 7, 2018
The Avalanche are similar to Vegas in that they have so much speed. Colorado with players like Nathan Mackinnon and Mikko Rantanen can create odd man rushes out of nothing with how fast they are. Korpisalo is going to have to be sharp again.
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