Now that the Boston Bruins' five-game road trip to ring in the New Year is over, there could be several takeaways from a trip that had a roller coaster of emotions. It started with losses to the Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames (in overtime) and was followed by wins over the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks (in overtime). They then closed it out with a 7-4 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.
After playing in the 4-1 loss to the Sabres on the opening game of the trip, Joonas Korpisalo was not seen again. Jeremy Swayman started the final four games between the pipes. After a New Year's win over the Oilers, the Black and Gold had an extra day off in between their final two games on the trip in Vancouver and Seattle.
First-year head coach Marco Sturm decided to start Swayman in the final two games, and despite there being two days off in between each game, Swayman looked tired against the Kraken and never should have played in that game. Now Boston returns home to play the Flames on Thursday night, and Korpisalo will be between the pipes, unless there is a significant move made by general manager Don Sweeney.
Bruins need to make a move in goal behind Jeremy Swayman
Korpisalo made his feelings known late in the regular season last spring and after the season was over about his playing time. He vowed to get more time this year, and it is not currently trending that way. He has been so bad that Sturm is going to Swayman more than he is, and even referred to Swayman's heavy workload as giving his team the best chance to win.
While that is true, he's running Swayman into the ground. If you don't have confidence in your backup to play him more, well then, changes need to be made. Why Sweeney agreed to take Korpisalo back in the trade that sent Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators will remain a great mystery for a long time.
Korpisalo has not been good this year. He has struggled and struggled mightily. He has lost the trust of his head coach, and if something isn't done sooner rather than later, then things are only going to get worse from here on out. Place him on waivers, and you might get a late Christmas gift with someone claiming him. If not, send him to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL) and call up Michel DiPietro. You could make the case that unloading Korpisalo somehow over the summer was the move to make and go with DiPietro.
Things can't get any worse than they are now with Korpisalo, and shaking things up is what Sweeney and Sturm need to do. They need to find a way to move on from Korpisalo, as it just isn't working out.