The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky for Thursday’s game against the Nashville Predators due to an “internal matter,” the team announced.
“there are certain expectations and values that we have established for our players that define our culture,” general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a statement Thursday. “An incident occurred in which Sergei failed to meet those expectations and values, so we made the decision that he would not be with the team for [Thursday’s] game.
“This is an internal matter and we will have no further comment at this time.”
Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, is 18-13-1 with a 2.87 goals-against average, two shutouts and a .906 save percentage this season for the Blue Jackets, who are third in the Metropolitan Division through Wednesday’s games.
In his last outing, Bobrovsky allowed four goals on 19 shots before being replaced by Joonas Korpisalo midway through the third period in a 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
In other moves, Columbus recalled goaltender Jean-Francois Berube from the AHL Cleveland Monsters while placing center Brandon Dubinsky and left wing Markus Hannikainen on injured reserve.
Dubinsky will be sidelined at least one week with a hamstring injury, while Hannikainen will also be out at least a week with an elbow injury.
Berube, who will likely serve as the backup to Korpisalo for Thursday’s game, has a 9-10-4 career record in 34 NHL games with the New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks.