Just my guess based on reports from Detroit that say Kipper left the arena looking okay... Hartley has been overly protective of his older players and their health (ie. Iginla missing most of camp over basically nothing).
It's a short season and I suspect he pulled Kipper just to be safe knowing the team has been playing well and hungry for a win regardless of who was in net.
I think Irving was the plan for Colombus anyways, so this just moves things up by a period and gives Kipper 3 days to rest until Vancouver on Saturday.
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