Friday night, Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender, Joonas Korpisalo continued his hot streak of goaltending in a 2-1 overtime loss to the league-best Washington Capitals. While the Columbus roster was comprised primarily of AHL call-ups due to injury, Koripisalo backstop the team into overtime and give them a chance at the win.
Korpisalo has been on a hot goaltending streak of sorts as of late. The Finnish goalie has started 6 straight for the Blue Jackets, posting an impressive 5-0-1 with .942 save percentage and 1.65 goals against average in that span. The six game sample has also included wins against two of the leagues top teams, Washington and the New York Islanders.
Korpisalo has had particular success in his three games against Washington this season, currently 2-0-1 in those starts. When asked in his post-game presser if he elevates his game against the Capitals, he said he doesn't see it that way.
"I don't think of it that way. I just go out there and play no matter what team..." said Korpisalo.
Further evaulating his play in the 2-1 overtime loss, Korpisalo was humble in his assessment giving more praise to the defensive play in front of him.
"I was okay. Guys did a really good job taking away rebounds," Korpisalo said of both his and the team's play. "Good game overall, for the whole team." While the team in front of him did play well, his comments don't give justice to some of the great saves he made on the night.
The guy is EVERYWHERE pic.twitter.com/bGZx8yj782
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 28, 2019
Korpisalo also alluded to the reason behind their success on the night in frustrating the offensively-potent Washinton team. "I think it was not giving any odd-man rushes, that's what (Washington) feeds on," Korpisalo said.
In his post-game presser, Korpisalo did not appear to be too upset at the game, saying that there were opportunities for the team, but they didn't go their way.
"It's a one goal game, we had the chances but their goalie (Ilya Samsonov) played really well today," said Korpisalo. "Going to overtime, you never know what you're going to get."
Korpisalo over this streak of games has further shown his ability to be a number one goaltender in the NHL, but the NHL season is long. To solidify his starting spot, he'll have to continue this strong play over the course of the final 44 games.
