Joonas Korpisalo is by far the most important player of the Los Angeles Kings in the spring playoffs. A year ago, however, the entire NHL career was still at stake, writes Urheilu’s NHL editor Tommi Seppälä.
Tommi SeppäläYle’s NHL reporter
What a difference a year can make.
To be exact, a year ago, the Finnish goaltender of the now-representing Los Angeles Kings Joonas Korpisalo moods were at rock bottom. After difficult years, the so-called Libra season had been at hand in Columbus – the talented Korpisalo already had to prove last season that he was really going somewhere in his career.
But no.
The team collapsed and Korpisalo’s game plummeted. Korpisalo was undoubtedly one of the weakest goaltenders who played regularly in the NHL last season, if not the weakest. The ragged body was in pain and the game didn’t go well. In the end, the save percentage of the Helsinki native was the lowest in the entire league for those who played 1,000 minutes. Second lowest GSAA reading.
GSAA tells how many goals a goalkeeper saves in relation to the league average.
To crown it all, the nightmarish season ended in March with a hip injury.
At this point, the NHL career of the top hockey player of the second generation was also at stake. It was seven seasons in Columbus and the career was going nowhere. The game faltered, the body showed symptoms and the faith on the part of the club was also put to the test.
Club boss Jarmo Kekäläinen nevertheless decided to look at the Korpisalo card one more time and oh my brothers, what a story has come out of it.
After last spring’s hip surgery, NHL rinks have seen a brand new Joonas Korpisalo this season. Already in Columbus, he robbed the first goalie from the Latvian in the fall From Elvis Merzlikins playing excellently. There was no doubt that Korpisalo did not play the best hockey of his time with the Blue Jackets during the fall and winter.
However, Kekäläinen was committed to Latvian Elvis with a long contract, so Korpisalo had to be traded.
The move to Los Angeles has been a lottery win for both the player and the club that acquired him so far. The Kings’ goaltending had not been particularly good throughout the season, but Korpisalo put the door on the wall from the first day.
As a statistic, it should be mentioned that at the end of the regular season, Korpisalo had time to play in the Kings’ goal in eleven games. In nine of these, a maximum of two goals went behind.
The best in the world in your back pocket
In the playoffs, the story of the 28-year-old Korpisalo has only grown. The Kings, represented by the Finnish goalkeeper, have in many places been underdogs against Edmonton, who went into the first round match series as early favorites, but thanks to a very strong goalie play, they lead the series after Saturday morning’s overtime victory with a 2-1 victory.
There’s still a long way to go to win the series, but there’s a huge veskar clinic.
The superior MVP of his team has made more important saves than the other in three matches and specifically in decisive moments. Perhaps the most important saves on Saturday were seen during the underpowered game at the beginning of the third period. The door was closed twice by the world’s most dangerous attacker, From Connor McDavid.
The line is bold, but I’ll do it anyway: after three matches, McDavid is firmly in Korpisalo’s back pocket. I saw the line despite the fact that McDavid hit the ball twice on Saturday. Korpisalo couldn’t do anything about these huge upper corner shots.
However, the door has remained ajar when it has mattered the most, i.e. in moments of decision.
It’s also a cold fact that even with five ties, Connor McDavid has not yet scored a point in the series, as neither have the chain friends alongside the maestro Zach Hyman and Evander Kane. The trio has recorded a total of 14 places in the first sector with equal fives, but there has been no cigar available, thanks to Korpisalo.
The hottest in the whole orchestra
Korpisalo is the hottest goalie in the NHL at the start of the playoffs. That is, the goalkeeper whose contribution has had the biggest impact on the play of his own team and on the fact that the Kings lead the match series.
Against Korpisalo, the most goal expectations have been clearly created of all the goalkeepers. At the same time, the Finn’s save percentage of dangerous goal posts (94.3) is the second best in the entire league and the GSAA reading (+2.7) is the third best.
As said, there is still a long way to go, but so is the goalkeeper.
will show two NHL playoff games on Sunday, April 23. The New York Islanders–Carolina match can be watched on TV2 and Areena starting at 8 p.m. After that, we move on to the Florida–Boston match (around 10:30 p.m.).