It would be easy to explain away the Blue Jackets lack of victories earlier in the season, including the dismal month of November, on the backup goaltender, as fans are wont to do. But that would belie the fact that Curtis McElhinney was playing injured.
On Oct. 18 in Ottawa, Nick Foligno slid into McElhinney, resulting in the goalie having a concussion. One week later, he had flown to California to back up Sergei Bobrovsky against the LA Kings on Oct. 26. Bobrovsky fractured a finger the next day in practice. In essence, 10 days after suffering a concussion, McElhinney was back between the pipes with little to no practice time.
"After Sergei went down with the injury, he got off to a bad start," goaltending coach Ian Clark said. "He flew all the way out to California after the concussion, didn't really have any practice time, then flew all the way back, was immediately forced in and was off-kilter with his timing and rhythm.
"He'd been off for a week and really had no practice time. That's no excuse. That's just what unfolded. He got off to a bad start there (5-2 loss vs. Ottawa) and that carried on for a few games. Really, when I look at his game, I go back about four or five performances of his and they were much, much stronger."
The culmination of him progressively getting better as the team got better was on full display Saturday against the Boston Bruins. He made 26 saves on 28 shots, backstopping the team to a 6-2 victory.
"The team helped him convert that game (Boston) to a win," Clark said, "which is his responsibility as a backup goaltender; to take those 'spot' games and help convert them to wins. He played that great Nashville game (Nov. 29) where it was unfortunate we lost in the last minute. Prior to that there was the game where we beat the Flyers in Philadelphia (Nov. 14).
"So, he has turned it around, although obviously his numbers are still lagging, but what I look at is the recent trend in his game. And the recent trend is a much stronger performance."
It has been minor tweaks to his positioning and preparation versus revamping his style of play that led to him being stronger and more confident in net.
"I think it's some technical things," said McElhinney, "in terms of control. I'm using my eyes better, getting to spots, getting set up and establishing where I need to be in the crease. I came back from the injury and then Bob got hurt, so I got thrust right in there. I don't think I was 100 percent on top of my game as well. There was really no time to work through them and get the kinks worked out. Having Bob come back allowed me some time to sort things out."
For a player that only sees duty in games infrequently, it is tough to stay on top of your game in the way a starting goalie does with start after start. With Bobrovsky back and healthy, it has allowed McElhinney to get back his form when he is called upon.
"He's worked with better attention to detail in recent weeks," Clark said. "Sometimes, you can work hard but it's misdirected work. To me, he's really sharpened his focus and his practice habits and that's led to sharpening his game. For a backup goaltender that may only see the ice once every three weeks, your game prep is all that practice work.
"Sometimes it's hard to keep up that sharpness and attention to detail for those long stretches of time, but he's really pushed through well, especially since that Nashville game. I think his confidence is there because his recent performances, that body of work, was much stronger than the first half of his season."
Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards still has confidence with McElhinney between the pipes based on his past performances. McElhinney stepped up when he needed to last year to give the team a chance to win.
"My confidence never changed in him," said Richards. "Our team, we weren't good in front of him at the start. Could he have been better? Probably. I don't think our five-on-five play and group play in front of him gave him confidence to help him. And I think they feed off of each other. When you're checking well and doing the right things and the goaltender is seeing the puck, he's got to make saves... but he's gaining confidence because he knows guys are in position and he's going to see it.
"If he does leave a rebound, the guys are going to be there to clear it. And when the goaltender is making some saves, the players gain confidence. It goes hand-in-hand. There's no issue with my confidence in Curtis. And the reason why I say that is because of what he did last year. I've seen him at his best and I know he can win hockey games at this level."
As for his performance Saturday against Boston, it wasn't so much McElhinney playing 'lights out' as much as it was he gave the team a chance and they responded by playing well in front of him. He did a much better job with his rebound control and seeing the puck. One hand washes the other, as the saying goes.
"Rebound control comes from being prepared well for the shot," explained Clark. "If you think of a goaltenders process, they repeat this over and over again. They're prepared. They execute their save and then they have a post-save consequence. It's either a rebound or there's some recovery involved, and then they start that process all over again.
"So usually if you're going to have sound rebound control, it's because you're prepared well for the save, so you're square, centered, balanced and stable for the first shot. That's gives you a simpler first save, which allows you that control. He did some real good work in preparation of the shots he faced (against Boston), which led to better rebound control."
McElhinney is feeling good about where his game is presently as he feeds off of his improved performance and the play of the team. The players acknowledge that they weren't good in front of him earlier in the season and they vowed to be better going into the game against Boston. The end result of that game speaks volumes for where the team is.
"November was when things really started to feel good for me," McElhinney said. "In December, we had a favorable schedule and Bob was fantastic through that stretch. I'm excited for whenever the next game comes. I think I'm in a good spot right now. The team's playing well and it's nice to piggyback on their effort and get some results for them as well."
There are 48 games remaining for the Blue Jackets in the regular season and McElhinney will get more chances to backstop the team. His next chance could come as soon as this weekend when the team plays back-to-back games in Arizona and Colorado.
As Bobrovsky has gained momentum and rounded into stellar form, so has McElhinney returned to the level of play that served the team well one season ago.
"It's not his job to win hockey games," Clark said. "It's the responsibility of the group to win hockey games. It's his responsibility to backstop the opportunity to win hockey games. And he's been doing that."
The Blue Jackets return to action New Year's Eve as they host the Minnesota Wild at 7 p.m. Catch all the action beginning at 6:30 p.m. with the FOX Sports Ohio pregame show "Blue Jackets LIVE".
