After a 5-0 loss to the Stars on Saturday night, Joonas Korpisalo had a point to prove tonight against the Panthers.
And prove it he did.
Korpisalo stopped 29 of 32 shots he saw tonight in a 4-2 loss to the Panthers, including several highlight-reel saves to keep the Blue Jackets in it. None were better than his stick save on Aleksander Barkov, who looked to have an easy tap-in for a power-play goal that would have given the Panthers a 1-0 lead early in the first period.
What even is this save by Korpisalo off the cross-slot pass on the PK #CBJ #FLAPanthers #sorcery pic.twitter.com/h5BKHiZZc2
— Alison (@AlisonL) March 10, 2021
"That's just desperation, trying to get something in there...just threw my stick there and the puck hit it," said Korpisalo, who was clearly dejected postgame. The Finnish netminder said his save on Barkov didn't matter in the end, because the Blue Jackets weren't able to tie the game up.
"[Korpisalo] gave us an opportunity to win that game. Could have been 4-0. We have to help him out by scoring some goals," said Cam Atkinson, who put seven shots on net tonight, including a shorthanded breakaway, but couldn't find a goal.
The Blue Jackets struggled as a whole to put the puck in the back of the net tonight, but it wasn't for lack of chances. They generated 13 high-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick. Patrik Laine had several grade-A chances, Nick Foligno missed a gaping net, and Kevin Stenlund hit the post, just to name a few.
Cams face says it all #CBJ pic.twitter.com/3f0JdkMvWe
— Alison (@AlisonL) March 10, 2021
Just past the halfway point in the second period, Korpisalo made another outstanding stop with his stick on Gustav Forsling, just to make sure that his stop on Barkov wouldn't be the only one on SportsCenter's Top 10 tomorrow.
More looks at Korpisalos save on Forsling. #CBJ #FLAPanthers pic.twitter.com/epP2KdOpLf
— Alison (@AlisonL) March 10, 2021
Elvis Merzlikins was activated off IR yesterday, but if Korpisalo continues to play the way that he did tonight, it'll be hard to justify taking him out of the crease. The Blue Jackets have a back-to-back this weekend against the Stars, so it's likely that Merzlikins will start one of those games, but it'll be interesting to see who Tortorella puts between the pipes on Thursday. He's previously said that he likes to go with the hot hand, which is currently Korpisalo, but Korpisalo has started eight straight games.
The Blue Jackets did enough to win tonight in terms of creating chances, but their finishing just wasn't there. Laine had six shots on net, but he's pointless in his last seven games. Korpisalo gave them a chance to win tonight, and there was an air of frustration from Atkinson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Korpisalo, and Tortorella postgame that they couldn't get it done.
They'll have another shot against Florida on Thursday, and the Panthers will likely start Sergei Bobrovsky again after the Russian netminder outdueled Korpisalo tonight.
