It was reported today that starting Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, will miss up to three weeks due to a groin injury he suffered in the Jackets 3-2 OT loss to the Kings Tuesday night. Bobrovsky has been on a run of excellent play since the start of November, with a record of 9-4-1, a 1.67 GAA, and a save percentage of .945, which is impressive, especially considering how his season started out. His play as of late has been a major contributing factor to how well the Blue Jackets have been playing.
This injury, comes as no surprise to those who have followed either the goalie or the Blue Jackets, as he has suffered groin injuries in both of the last two seasons. Bobrovsky joins Carey Price and Devan Dubnyk on the injured reserve as yet another starting goalie out with a leg injury.
The injury to Bobrovsky was the hot topic of discussion at Wednesday’s press conference in Columbus as now starting goaltender, Curtis McElhinney said, “Bob is playing great. You watch, and you can see he’s on top of his game. That’s some of the best hockey I’ve seen him play and it’s a bummer to see a guy that’s playing like that and giving us a chance to win every night go down.”
Despite most fans and forums alike expressing their concern with the starter going down, coach John Tortorella was perfectly confident with McElhinney. “Curtis has been good. I feel very comfortable”.
Another goalie who is getting a chance from Sergei going down is the Finnish-born goaltender, Joonas Korpisalo, 21, of the AHL-affiliate, Lake Erie Monsters. Despite being a rookie goaltender, Korpisalo has had a seriously impressive season with the Monsters as he has been able to post a 5-4-2 record with a 2.12 GAA, and a save percentage of .928, as well as two shutouts to his name. He leads all rookie goaltenders in the AHL in goals-against-average and save percentage.
Will either of them be able to fill the void that is going to be left by Sergei Bobrovsky while he’s gone? Only time will tell with Korpisalo, and for McElhinney this could be his chance to show what he has to offer as the Blue Jackets look to continue this impressive run of play.
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