Korpisalo hadn’t seen game action in 10 days, but looked fast and feisty throughout. His performance bodes well for a team looking to bounce back and battle for a playoff spot.
“We needed him,” said coach Marco Sturm. “He was great right from the first minute to the last minute. He kept us in a game. Came up big a lot of times, so yeah, he was outstanding.”
Jeremy Swayman is poised to get the lion’s share of starts but having a dependable depth between the pipes is critical. That is magnified even more this season with NHL’s compacted schedule due to the Olympic break in mid-February.
The Bruins will play on back-to-back days 12 times and sometimes up to four games in a week.
Workhorse goalies won’t work this season. Successful teams will need a stable.
Korpisalo expressed a desire for more work at the end of last season when he went 11-10-3 with a 2.90 goals-against average and three shutouts.
His wish will likely be granted this season.
“We need him. If you look at the schedule and I said it before, if you look at the schedule, we need all the guys and especially our goalies, two for sure,” said Sturm. “There will be not one guy playing eight games in a row. That’s not going to happen. It’s going to be both of them. They have to carry us and that’s why I’m very happy that we have two goalies and even with Michael [DiPietro], three goalies like that we can rely on.”
Korpisalo said he’s ready for whatever comes his way.
“Just go game by game and I’m just trying to be me, try do my best every day and whenever it’s my time to start a game, I’ll be ready,” he said.
Swayman and DiPietro have also looked sharp during camp. A three-man rotation is unrealistic (roster spots are just too valuable) but having a dependable guy at the ready down the road in Providence should give the Boston brass peace of mind.
DiPietro served as the backup here and might have a sore right arm Friday from banging on the boards saluting Korpisalo’s myriad tough saves.
“Felt all right. Quite a bit of rebounds,” said Korpisalo. “They came in hot in the first period and we played really good after, for the second and third period and yeah, it felt all right.”
The Bruins took another step toward finalizing their roster with another round of cuts Friday afternoon.
Among the more well-known names were Georgii Merkulov, who has led the Providence Bruins in scoring the last three seasons, and Fabian Lysell, who was expected to be in the mix for a varsity spot this season after a promising run with Boston at the end of last season.
Neither forward bowled the staff over with their preseason performances.
Merkulov and fellow forwards Riley Tufte and Patrick Brown and defensemen Michael Callahan and Victor Soderstrom were placed on waivers with the purpose of an assignment to Providence.
Lysell and fellow forwards Riley Duran and Brett Harrison (who scored twice against the Capitals), and defenseman Frederic Brunet were assigned to Providence.
Final rosters must be submitted by Monday.
Center Casey Mittelstadt (lower body) returned to practice after missing two days . . . The Bruins play their final preseason game Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.) against the Rangers at TD Garden.