Newly acquired goalie Joonas Korpisalo could make his team debut for the Los Angeles Kings when they host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov were acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for veteran goalie Jonathan Quick and two draft picks on Wednesday, one of the more surprising moves in the days leading up to Friday’s NHL trade deadline.Quick, who led the Kings to Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014, was in the final season of a 10-year contract. Columbus then dealt the 37-year-old to the Kings’ Pacific Division rival, the Vegas Golden Knights.Korpisalo, who turns 29 next month, had a 3.17 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage in 28 games with the Blue Jackets this season, including 26 starts. Columbus has the fewest points in the NHL (46).Heading into this season, Los Angeles was counting on Cal Petersen to grab the reins as the No. 1 starter, but he was demoted to Ontario of the American Hockey League after posting a 3.75 GAA and an .868 save percentage in his first 10 games.In 26 games for Ontario through Thursday, Petersen had a 2.71 GAA and a .914 save percentage, more in line with his NHL numbers the past two seasons.Since Petersen’s demotion, Los Angeles received surprisingly strong play in goal from Pheonix Copley, who spent more time in the AHL than the NHL in the previous eight seasons.Copley, who has played with St. Louis (2015-16 and 2016-17) and the Washington Capitals (2018-19 and 2021-22), won nine of his first 10 starts with the Kings and 12 of 14. Even when he hasn’t been as sharp, Copley has kept Los Angeles within striking distance in most of his appearances.Copley has never appeared in a postseason game, however, while Korpisalo made nine starts for the Blue Jackets during the 2019-20 playoffs.”We haven’t come in and said, ‘Hey, Korpisalo is our No. 1 guy,'” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “What we’ve said is, Korpisalo is a part of our team and Copley is part of our team. They’re both important and they’re both going to play.”
Joonas Korpisalo might debut for Kings against Blues
