Tortorella to the keeper: "Bob was not Bob"

Through six games this season, Sergei Bobrovsky Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella said his goaltender had been outclbaded by the opposition.

"Bob was not Bob," Tortorella said Wednesday, according to The Columbus Dispatch. "It's a unique position, this goalkeeper position, but in the last two games, the goalkeeper has been better than our goalkeeper. This does not happen often with Bob, but this has been the case this year. "

The two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy is 2-4 with a .872 efficiency percentage and a 3.87 goals-against average. Bobrovsky allowed four goals on 26 shots in Tuesday's 4-1 defeat against the Arizona Coyotes

Bobrovsky, who plays in the final season of his current contract, had pre-season difficulties with a .819 save percentage and a 5.15 goals-against average in three friendlies. Tortorella kicked off Joonas Korpisalo in the team's first game of the season, leaving Bobrovsky on the bench for a first game for the first time since joining the club in 2012.

Korpisalo, 24, is 2-0 this season with a save percentage of 0.902 and a 2.95 goals-against average. Tortorella would not engage in a warm-up match for Thursday's game against the St. Louis Blues, but added that he expected Bobrovsky to improve with more departures. The Blue Jackets have 14 games scheduled for the month of November.

"Every goalkeeper has to get into a stream, and I think that will help," Tortorella said. "When these games begin to happen to us, I think it'll help."

Tortorella said after Tuesday's game that Bobrovsky was not responsible for the loss, but the team expects it to bail him out after mistakes in their own area. "Bob must also play better," he added. "Twelve chances to score [for the Coyotes], four goals. Bob made very good saves, but he must be better.

"So, I will not listen," in difficult times. "It's a team game, and that's a big part of our success, it's him, I certainly do not want to blame the goalkeeper for the loss, but he also has to be better, just like the other members of this team. "