Joonas Korpisalo showed on Tuesday night why he should still be the front-runner in the battle to be the Boston Bruins' backup goaltender. Korpisalo kept the Bruins in the game in the first period, despite the defense crumbling around him, stopping 10 of 11 shots with a majority being of the ten-bell variety.
The second period got very ugly when the pucks started getting past him, but each of the goals came off an ugly turnover. Victor Soderstrom, Johnny Beecher, and Matej Blumel all had plays that they wish they could've had back, which came at a terrible time for each of those players as they are all on the bubble for making the opening night roster.
Korpisalo held strong again in the third period as the Bruins mounted a comeback, showing that he could have the ability to steal some games this season and also shake it off when things get tough. There isn't as much confidence in Michael Dipietro to do the same thing if he were to be the backup, as he seemed to crumble once the goals started going in on Sunday against the Washington Capitals.
While Korpisalo solidified his place as the backup goaltender, Dipietro actually helped his stock as well, even though he was left back in Boston. We were getting ready to send Dipietro to the AHL after his performance on Sunday, but he had his fair share of goals allowed off turnovers as well. The goals that Korpisalo allowed against the Rangers show that it could just be a long year of bailing out the skaters for the Bruins' goaltenders.
It is hard to get an accurate read on the goalies when the players are struggling in front of them, but Korpisalo gets the upper hand because of how well he played outside of those turnovers. He looked confident and poised when the Bruins were defending well in front of him, and that's really all the Bruins' front office can ask of them this season.
While Korpisalo could've packed it in after the onslaught in the second period, he settled back into a rhythm and made the stops he needed to make to allow the Bruins a three-goal third-period comeback and eventual overtime winner from Nikita Zadorov. For a team that will be grinding for points in the regular season, that's the type of performance you need from a backup goaltender.