"There are certain expectations and values that we have established for our players that define our culture," Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. "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 tonight's game. This is an internal matter and we will have no further comment at this time."
The goalie is 18-13-1 with a 2.87 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and two shutouts in 32 games this season for the Blue Jackets (24-15-3), who are third in the Metropolitan Division.
Bobrovsky, who was pulled at 8:53 of the third period after allowing four goals on 19 shots in a 4-0 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
"The release will speak for itself," coach John Tortorella said after the morning skate Thursday. "There's no sense asking ... and and as far as the players, I've already told the players there's no sense in talking about it either. This will be handled inside.
"Jarmo and I will do the speaking on it if any more speaking needs to be done but the release speaks for itself."
Goalie Joonas Korpisalo will start against the Predators; Columbus recalled goalie
J-F Berube
from Cleveland of the American Hockey League to be the backup Thursday.
Bobrovsky is expected to return to practice with the Blue Jackets on Friday.
"I knew after last game that I'd be playing so I had a pretty good heads-up," Korpisalo said. "That's good. I had time to prepare for this."
Forward Nick Foligno said Bobrovsky being out would not be a distraction Thursday.
"We're a team that's gone through a lot of adversity over the time I've been here," said Foligno, the Columbus captain. "This is nothing new and not anything that's going to define us and we're going to go about our business and get ready for a really important game tonight."
The Blue Jackets also placed forwards Brandon Dubinsky (lower body) and Markus Hannikainen (upper body) on injured reserve.
NHL.com correspondent Craig Merz contributed to this report
