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Goalie nods: Columbus gives Korpisalo his NHL debut

Joonas Korpisalo, Matt Cullen

Joonas Korpisalo, Matt Cullen

AP

Columbus will get a look at one of its brightest young goalie prospects when it hosts the Lightning.

Joonas Korpisalo, the 62nd overall pick in 2012, will make his NHL debut tonight at Nationwide. The 21-year-old was recalled last week in the wake of Sergei Bobrovsky’s injury and, with veteran Curtis McElhinney having struggled in his last outing, Korpisalo will get a chance to run with the starting gig -- at least for one night.

A former standout in Finland’s SM-liiga, Korpisalo has been pretty good for AHL Lake Erie this year, going 5-4-2 with a .928 save percentage and 2.12 GAA.

Korpisalo gets a pretty decent draw in his first big-league contest.

While the Lightning are offensively gifted and boast one of the league’s best snipers in Steve Stamkos, they head into tonight’s action really banged up at forward, and possibly without five regulars in the lineup.

Speaking of the Bolts, they’ll start Ben Bishop.

Elsewhere...

-- Battle of the backups in Boston, where the B’s will go Jonas Gustavsson while the Oilers counter with a rare start from Cam Talbot.

-- Marquee matchup in Pittsburgh: Braden Holtby, who’s been an absolute workhorse, starts for the Caps. Marc-Andre Fleury counters for the Penguins, his first start under new head coach Mike Sullivan.

-- Looks like it’ll be Jonathan Quick for the Kings tonight as they continue their lengthy road trip, this time in Ottawa. The Sens will go back to Craig Anderson after Saturday’s debacle (a record 27 shots allowed in the first period) against Montreal.

-- Petr Mrazek gets the call for Detroit, as the Wings host the Sabres. Buffalo will counter with Chad Johnson.