Elvis Merzlikins was the opening-night starter for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Daniil Tarasov has emerged as the No. 1 goaltender just 2 1/2 weeks into the season.
Tarasov is expected to start a fifth straight game when the Blue Jackets host the Edmonton Oilers Monday night.
Merzlikins, who has started 179 games for Columbus in his NHL career, sustained a hand injury in the third game of the season on Oct. 10. He’s back to 100 percent, but Tarasov has played too well to return to the bench.
Merzlikins said he’s ready to support Tarasov every step of the way.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, how much you earn or how many games you have played in this league,” Merzlikins said. “Nobody’s guaranteed anything. You have to earn your spot and work your (butt) off to get it. There’s going to be bad moments, bad nights, but we’re all human. We’re all going to mess up and we’re all going to shine, but we also have to find that consistency.”
Tarasov stopped 29 of 33 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss at the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Columbus scored the first two goals of the game on Saturday and entered the third period with a 2-1 lead.
“We were unimpressed with how we played when we had a two-goal lead,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “We turned the puck over constantly, gave them an opportunity to come back at us. We have to manage the game a (heck) of a lot better than we did in those situations. The game should’ve been cleaner than it was.”
Kirill Marchenko has nine points (four goals, five assists) in the first seven games of the season for Columbus.
The Oilers will be playing the second game of a back-to-back road set after recording a 3-2 victory in overtime against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. Edmonton is 4-1-1 in its past six games after losing its first three contests of the season.
Evan Bouchard scored at 10:47 of the third period to forge a 2-2 tie. Leon Draisaitl tallied 18 seconds into overtime to cap his three-point performance (two goals, one assist) on his 29th birthday.
Draisaitl said there’s no time to celebrate his birthday or his accomplishments.
“We’re playing (Monday), so I’m just getting ready for tomorrow,” he said.
Draisaitl scored his overtime winner after converting a diagonal feed from Mattias Ekholm.
“Just an amazing pass,” Draisaitl said. “He’s such a special player. You just close your eyes, go to the back of the net.”
Stuart Skinner is expected to start in goal for the Oilers after Calvin Pickard made 25 saves in the win against the Red Wings on Sunday.
Skinner is coming off a shutout in his most recent outing on Friday, making 27 saves in a 4-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He is 2-1-1 in four career starts against the Blue Jackets with a .923 save percentage and 2.24 goals-against average, both better than his NHL career averages of .908 and 2.71.
