Bruins’ Joonas Korpisalo Making Early Strides In New Environment
The Bruins didn’t make things easy on Joonas Korpisalo last week, plugging the newcomer into an intense environment, against the defending Stanley Cup champions, with the pressure of trying to keep things afloat until Jeremy Swayman was ready to re-enter the lineup.
Korpisalo performed about how you’d expect.
Boston allowed the newcomer to be under siege all night, and it led to a lopsided loss to the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena. Korpisalo sat on that loss for a while, but it led to an improved performance when he got another opportunity Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.
“Korpi was really good for us tonight,” Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm said Wednesday, per team-provided video. “I said in the first few minutes, we were on our toes because they were a desperate hockey team. He was huge for us tonight.”
Korpisalo stopped 22-of-25 shots in the comfortable win, with all three goals coming by way of the power-play. The B’s, once again, didn’t make things easy on him, but he was able to stop the bleeding and make enough saves to contribute to his first win in the new uniform.
“He allowed us to get into the game with that great save on (Avalanche forward Miles) Wood’s breakaway in the first few minutes,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said postgame, per team-provided video. “He just kept on making big-time saves, throughout the game and especially in the third (period).”
The Bruins’ identity for the last several seasons was based on goaltending depth. While having two candidates for the Vezina Trophy isn’t on the table anymore, Korpisalo could be a driving force in how far this team gets in the standings. He just needs to continue turning in more performances like Wednesday’s.