The anointed "two-headed monster" for the Blue Jackets never materialized this year.
After last year, when Joonas Korpisalo was an All-Star and Elvis Merzlikins had five shutouts, the Blue Jackets were expected to have some of the league's best goaltending this season. Instead, they've struggled in that department.
Merzlikins has been injured multiple times, and Korpisalo's been subpar, perhaps due to his increased workload with Merzlikins out. Their two stat lines this season are practically the same.
| Goalie | Games Started | Record | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elvis Merzlikins | 9 | 4-3-2 | 3.02 | .908 |
| Joonas Korpisalo | 21 | 7-9-5 | 3.03 | .899 |
As you can see, neither goaltender has been exceptional, or even average, for a Blue Jackets team that seems to get hemmed in their own zone an awful lot.
"They're not going to be told that there's a schedule, going every other game," said John Tortorella today on Hockey & Hounds. "I thought Korpi played really well the last game (against Florida), really well...Elvis was really instrumental in his start (against Dallas)."
Before the season, Tortorella repeatedly said that he was planning to alternate the goaltenders every other game until one showed him that they deserved the starting job. He doesn't feel that Korpisalo or Merzlikins has done that yet.
"We're going to go day-by-day," said Tortorella. "If (Korpi or Elvis is hot) and we feel he played that good, we'll stay with them. But I don't think either one of them have taken it and said this is my position. Elvis has been hurt, obviously, so it's kind of changed the complexion of it, but right now, instead of saying we're alternating, we're just going to go one game at a time, and then make the decision the next game and see where we go with it.
The Blue Jackets desperately need Korpisalo and Merzlikins to revert to their form of old, but the lack of defensive depth is certainly playing a role in their slow starts. When Ryan Murray and Markus Nutivaara were traded away for peanuts to protect against an offer sheet for Pierre-Luc Dubois (you know, the offer sheet that never came for the player who didn't want to be here), it made them weaker as a team.
Columbus is currently giving up 3.20 goals per game, which is the ninth-most in the NHL, and a far cry from last year's average of 2.61, which was good for third-least. Both goaltenders have one more season after this one remaining on their contract, and then both will be unrestricted free agents. It'll be interesting to see how the franchise proceeds as things play out.
