Merzlikins allowed three goals on 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' loss in Florida last Saturday. The 25-year-old is still looking for his first NHL win, as he has started the year 0-4-3 with a 3.30 GAA and .894 SV% in seven starts and one relief appearance. Today he takes on a Senators team that has lost seven of their last nine while scoring 2.33 goals per game.
Merzlikins allowed two goals on 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' loss to the Islanders last Saturday. Joonas Korpisalo started the last two games but Merzlikins will start tonight in Florida. Merzlikins has not started on home ice this season but has made six road starts, going 0-3-3 with a 3.66 GAA and .884 SV%. The Panthers come in at 7-4-2 while scoring 3.62 goals per game on home-ice.
Merzlikins gave up four goals on 31 shots in the Blue Jackets loss in Winnipeg last Saturday. Merzlikins is still winless in five NHL appearances but is coming off of a win in the AHL earlier in the week. Tonight he faces an Islanders team that has won nine of their last 10 while scoring 3.80 goals per game on home-ice this season.
This is the second time that the Blue Jackets have done this. They want Merzlikins to get some playing time and with Joonas Korpisalo playing well, he's not going to get that in Columbus right now. Merzlikins allowed one goal on 29 shots in a losing effort in his only AHL game.
Merzlikins went down to get some playing time with Cleveland but was called back up quicker than originally planned. Joonas Korpisalo struggled last week, so Merzlikins returns after one game and will start Tuesday.
Merzlikins was sent to Cleveland (AHL) late last week to get some playing time but returned quicker than originally planned because Joonas Korpisalo struggled in Colorado on Saturday. Merzlikins hasn't been great this year either, going 0-1-2 with a. 3.90 GAA and .882 SV%. The Canadiens are 5-3-0 with 3.50 goals per game in eight games in Montreal.
With Columbus heading out on a three-game road trip that does not have a back-to-back, Merzlikins heads to Cleveland just to get some playing time. The 25-year-old is 0-1-2 with the Blue Jackets so far this season and will get some AHL starts before likely returning to the NHL next week. Matiss Kivlenieks comes up to take his spot as the backup goalie.
Merzlikins stopped all 19 shots that he faced after replacing Joonas Korpisalo in the Blue Jackets loss to the Oilers on Wednesday. Tonight will be Merzlikins' first start since October 18th and he comes in having allowed a combined 10 goals on 92 shots (.891 SV%) in three appearances this season. Even without Vladimir Tarasenko, the Blues present a difficult road test--there are better options than Merzlikins tonight.
With Joonas Korpisalo starting the season opener vs. Toronto, it sets Merzlikins up for a date with the Pittsburgh Penguins in his NHL debut. The Blue Jackets have high hopes for the 2014 third-round pick, who turned in a .921 SV% in two straight seasons while playing with Lugano of the Swiss-A League. He will have spot-start value this season, but this is a tough spot for him.
Merzlikins, 25, was selected by the Blue Jackets in the third-round back in 2014 but remained with Lugano in Switzerland, where he had a 2.44 GAA and .921 SV% in 43 games this season. Merzlikins represented Latvia at the World Championship, where he had a 2.78 GAA and .914 SV% in five games.
