Blue Jackets News & Rumors: Merzlikins, Voronkov & More

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The Columbus Blue Jackets enter the new week riding a four-game winning streak. The team is 3-0 under new head coach Rick Bowness.

The Blue Jackets are playing the game with confidence. They are clearly getting the bump that many talk about when there is a coaching change.

What’s been an interesting development since Bowness took over for Dean Evason has been the play in net. Jet Greaves won his last start, a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames last Tuesday.

It’s been Elvis Merzlikins in net since. He’s won his last two starts, a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday and a 4-3 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Based on practice Monday, he’s in line to get a third consecutive start Tuesday night when the Blue Jackets host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

If there’s been anyone that has loved what they’ve seen from Merzlikins in the early going, it’s been Bowness. He reiterated that on Monday.

Bowness Talks Merzlikins

“Obviously, he’s been great. I love his compete in there,” Bowness said.

The score was 3-3 in overtime Saturday night. The Penguins had a decided edge in shots on goal 6-2 in the extra session.

One of the Penguins’ best and most dangerous players had multiple chances to score. Merzlikins made sure nothing got by him.

“We looked at that video today,” Bowness said. “I don’t think it’s part of a good game plan when Malkin’s all alone in front of the net in overtime. He had three chances. The wrong guy now. Put somebody else there, you’re not as worried. Put Malkin there, say “Well, that shouldn’t happen.”

“He saved us a point right there,” Bowness said of Merzlikins. “And we hate giving up a point to a divisional game. But man, that guys battles in the net. I love him. I mean, he just competes. He’s been outstanding. But yeah, he’s making the saves and everything. I love his attitude and I love the way he competes. You do that, we’re going to be okay.”

Bowness also had the chance to see the video of Merzlikins take a drink of water in overtime while the play was going on. Zach Werenski had the puck behind the net and had time. Merzlikins admitted Monday he was thirsty after making those saves on Malkin right before.

GM Don Waddell pointed the video out to Bowness. Each of them had a laugh. Both Waddell and Bowness said they’ve never seen anything like this before between them.

“And I said to the guys today. I said I’ve been around the league 50 years. I’ve never seen that,” Bowness said. “So we took a look at it. There he is drinking water…You can’t make that stuff up, right? He said he trusts his teammates. We talked a lot about trust each other and being connected. That’s trust.”

One of the key areas Waddell identified as a need in the second half of the season was finding a way to get Merzlikins going. So far under Bowness, it has worked. Bowness is clearly a fan of Merzlikins and his approach. While previous coaches, such as Evason, have praised Merzlikins in the past, these are some of the most positive comments to come from a Blue Jackets’ head coach about the goaltender.

Elvis Merzlikins Columbus Blue Jackets
Elvis Merzlikins has favor in the eyes of Rick Bowness early on. (Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images)

Under Bowness, it is both a fresh start and a new lease on hockey life for Merzlikins. He has earned this opportunity to play. As long as he performs well, he’ll keep playing too.

Voronkov Demoted

Then there is the other side of the new coach bump. Some players get a new lease on life like Merzlikins has. Others don’t get that as quickly. That is certainly the case for Dmitri Voronkov.

After playing 13:22 Thursday against the Canucks, Voronkov was limited to just 8:57 Saturday night in Pittsburgh. He played just two shifts in the third period.

On Monday, Voronkov skated on the fourth line with Brendan Gaunce and Zach Aston-Reese. Danton Heinen moved up to the third line where Voronkov was to play with Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier.

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Bowness was asked about Voronkov and what the team wants to see from him. The head coach said he’s already talked with the player about the situation.

“The other night, he had some good reads defensively,” Bowness said of Voronkov. “We’d like to see a little bit more offense from him. I put Danton (Heinen) up there because Danton has not only scored, but he was also creating a little bit more. Actually, I talked to (Voronkov) this morning. Very clear with what we need from him. He’s going to be on the power play, but I’d like a little more offense from him. But he’s a big guy. He’s a big powerful guy that works, right? So tweak the game a little bit here and there and hopefully he can get on track offensively. Do we want him going to the net and winning puck battles? Absolutely.”

Voronkov will play on the second power play unit despite his demotion to the fourth line. What will be interesting to watch is the minutes in upcoming games and if he’s able to create in those limited minutes.

Side Dishes

  • Let’s talk the latest on the defense. Dante Fabbro had to leave Saturday night’s game in Pittsburgh with a lower-body injury. Watching back the play, he got tied up with Sidney Crosby and was seen leaving the ice flexing his leg. Bowness said “I don’t think it’s as bad as we originally feared, but he’s hobbling around the locker room.” The head coach said Fabbro will be out “a week or so.”
  • As for Denton Mateychuk, he did not practice on Monday. He was observed in the locker room after practice which means he was able to do some work on his own. He is considered day-to-day at this point. He will not play Tuesday against Ottawa. His timeline will be based on when he re-joins his teammates for practice. Expectation here is that it shouldn’t be long.
  • The defensive pairs looked like this on Monday. Werenski/Severson. Provorov/Gudbranson. Zamula/Christiansen.
  • Up front, Mikael Pyyhtia was assigned to the Cleveland Monsters. Isac Lundestrom practiced with the main group. He didn’t take line rushes so it appears he will need a couple practices before a potential return to the lineup. The Blue Jackets have 22 on their roster as of this writing with Pyyhtia being sent down. We’ll see if they elect to keep 12 forwards until Lundestrom is ready or if they call someone up as insurance with a five-game homestand up next.
  • Mason Marchment continues to work on his own. Expectation is he won’t play this week at least. Wonder if the team will give him through the Olympic break. That remains to be seen.
  • Here’s how the forward lines looked on Monday at practice. Sillinger/Fantilli/Marchenko. Jenner/Monahan/Johnson. Heinen/Coyle/Olivier. Voronkov/Gaunce/Aston Reese.
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