Columbus Goalie Bobrovsky Out With Lower Body Injury
The Columbus Blue Jackets have done a good job recovering from their dismal start to the NHL season. It took a coaching change from Todd Richards to John Tortorella but the team is finally playing decent hockey and actually has a realistic chance to make the playoffs. Much of their near term success has been due to the stellar netminding of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Since November 1, Bobrovsky has made nine consecutive starts with a record of 9-4-1 with a 1.71 GAA and a .943 save percentage. Columbus will have to find other ways to win games for awhile–Bobrovsky will be sidelined for three weeks with what is being described as a ‘lower body injury’.
The injury occurred on Tuesday night late in the third period of the Jackets’ game against the Los Angeles Kings. There was no apparent cause to the injury, but after conferring with team training staff Bobrovsky left the ice turning the net over to backup Curtis McElhinney. McElhinney performed well in relief but allowed the game tying goal with less than 30 seconds remaining on a shot on which head coach Tortorella admitted that he ‘had no chance’. The Kigns went on to win in overtime.
McElhinney isn’t a bad goalie and his goals against average (2.77) and save percentage (0.905) are respectable. The problem is his win/loss record of 0-4-1. That does deserve some degree of context–he hasn’t seen action since the coaching change and Bobrovsky’s solid run. Most of his ice time was during the early weeks of the season when the Blue Jackets couldn’t do anything right.
The team and coaching staff is very comfortable with McElhinney in net with Bobrovsky sidelined. Coach Tortorella said that ‘he liked the way McElhinney responded in a difficult situation’ coming in late in the game against Los Angeles. McElhinney appreciated the confidence but said that ‘it’s a result based business’ and that he needs to get rid of the ‘zero’ in the wins column.
The Blue Jackets also called up goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League to serve as emergency backup. Korpisalo is 5-4-2 with a 2.12 goals against average and.928 save percentage with two shutouts in 11 games.