Merzlikins was stellar in his previous outing, saving 24 of 25 shots (.960 SV%) in a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets, and will return to the crease for a third consecutive game on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. The 30-year-old Merzlikins has a 2.95 GAA and .893 SV% in 18 games this season (18-9-2). The Blue Jackets enter Tuesday's contest as slight -111 home favorites against a Flyers club riding a three-game losing skid.
Merzlikins was stellar in his previous outing, saving 24 of 25 shots (.960 SV%) in a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets, and will return to the crease for a third consecutive game on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. The 30-year-old Merzlikins has a 2.95 GAA and .893 SV% in 18 games this season (18-9-2). The Blue Jackets enter Tuesday's contest as slight -111 home favorites against a Flyers club riding a three-game losing skid.
van Riemsdyk will re-enter the Jackets lineup on Friday with Mikael Pyyhtia serving as the healthy scratch. van Riemsdyk has three goals and two assists in 18 games this season.
Pyyhtia will be the odd-man out on Friday as James van Riemsdyk draws back into the Blue Jackets lineup. Pyyhtia has just one goal and one assist in 18 games this season.
Merzlikins will make his 17th start of the season when the Blue Jackets travel to Vancouver to take on the Canucks on Friday. Merzlikins took the loss his last time out, allowing two goals on 21 shots in a 3-0 defeat in Calgary on Tuesday. The 30-year-old netminder owns an 8-6-2 record to go along with an .894 SV% and 3.00 GAA on the season. Merzlikins and the Blue Jackets enter action in Vancouver on Friday at +185 on the money line.
James van Riemsdyk will be a healthy scratch on Thursday, allowing Pyyhtia to re-enter the lineup for the first time since November 16th. The 22-year-old Pyyhtia is averaging 13:57 time-on-ice and has one point (1G / 0A) in 17 games.
Mikael Pyyhtia will draw back into the Blue Jackets lineup on Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers, resulting in van Riemsdyk being a healthy scratch. The 35-year-old van Riemsdyk is averaging 10:50 time-on-ice and has five points (3G / 2A) in 18 games.
Elvis Merzlikins played the last seven games for the Blue Jackets, but they will revert to Tarasov on Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers. The 25-year-old Tarasov has struggled this season, posting an ugly 4.04 GAA and .861 SV% in eight games (3-4-1). The Blue Jackets enter Thursday's contest as sizeable +240 road underdogs against an Oilers club shutout 1-0 on Tuesday by the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Blue Jackets have on five of their last six and will turn to Merzlikins between the pipes for the seventh consecutive game. The 30-year-old Merzlikins has a 3.07 GAA and .894 SV% in 15 appearances this season (8-5-2). The Blue Jackets enter Tuesday's contest as +111 road underdogs against a Calgary Flames club on a four-game losing skid (0-3-1).
LaBate was the 101st overall pick of the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He played 13 games with the Canucks, scoring zero points, in the 2016-17 season, but has exclusively been an AHL player since. The 31-year-old LaBate has four points (1G / 3A) in five games with the Cleveland Monsters (AHL) this season.
Sillinger will return to the lineup after a one-game absence due to an upper-body injury. The 21-year-old Sillinger already has 240 NHL games to his name and has been productive this season, scoring 12 points (3G / 9A) in 20 contests while averaging a career-high 18:06 time-on-ice.
