Wednesday it was announced, first by Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch and then later confirmed by the team, that Sergei Bobrovsky would be out for three weeks with a lower body injury. Initially, when Bobrovsky left Tuesday’s game versus the Kings, it was believed that something had happened to Bobrovsky’s upper body but with the clarification today you have to hope that it isn’t his groin, which has almost become a yearly sore spot for Bobrovsky.
Where the heck does this leave the team?
The team is still on the outside looking in for the playoffs. As of this writing they are seven points from a playoff spot which looms like a mountain for them to climb. The goalies the Jackets will be turning to during this tumultuous time are Curtis McElhinney and Joonas Korpisalo. One is a known commodity while the other is more enigmatic.
McElhinney easily had the best season of his career last year. McElhinney played in 32 games and had a .914sv% – a mark that was still below the league average of .919sv%. To consider just how much better goalies have gotten in thirty years, the league average in 82-83 season was .879sv% so if you want to know where the scoring in the league has gone you can point to that right there.
I digress. The point to keep in mind for the short-term future without Bobrovsky, is that in this NHL, McElhinney will face the challenge of matching, if not exceeding, last year’s numbers as far as his performance. This isn’t a slight on McElhinney who has played admirably for the Jackets during his tenure with the team. They will just need to find someone who can carry Bobrovsky’s stellar play.
McElhinney has a .915 sv% thus far this year and will be the starter for the rest of the month but it’s possible we could see Korpisalo for a sizable amount of games too.
At 20 years of age, last year playing in Liiga, (the highest professional Finnish league) Korpisalo posted a .919sv%, an led his team in almost all of the goaltending categories. Unsurprisingly, he came over to the Monsters and wrestled the starting job away from incumbent Anton Forsberg. You will do that when you start the year with a .928sv% and help the Lake Erie Monsters start off on a torrid pace.
McElhinney will win some games for the Jackets but an eye towards the future should be something for the Jackets to consider during this time Bobrovsky is out as well. This doesn’t need to be a glum time for the team, this can be an opportunity for the Jackets to see what they have in the pipeline.
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