That means Merzlikins will be out for a bit, the latest in a wild run of injuries that have hit the CBJ crease since December 29, 2019.
That was the night that Zach Werenski's overtime winner against Chicago was ruled to have taken place an instant after time expired, sending the Jackets' game to a shootout. However, at least a second of time had run off the clock after a whistle a few seconds earlier, and if the time had been added back on, the goal would have counted.
CBJ fans probably remember what happened next. Joonas Korpisalo suffered a knee injury in the shootout, which Columbus lost to the Blackhawks, and John Tortorella delivered a postgame press conference to remember. The silver lining, though, turned out to be that Merzlikins took over the crease and became red hot, turning around what had been a tough start to his NHL career.
Since then, though, injuries have been a common part of the crease for the Blue Jackets. Once Korpisalo came back in mid-February, Merzlikins had his own injury knock that cost him a few games. In the playoff bubble, Merzlikins was injured late in Game 4 vs. Toronto and missed the rest of the postseason games, which proved to be a tough development when Korpisalo had to stay in the net after making 85 saves in the Game 1 five-OT loss to Tampa Bay.
This year, there's already been some ups and downs as well, with Merzlikins missing about a week earlier this month with an upper-body injury. That wouldn't have been that big a deal were it not for third-stringer Matiss Kivlenieks suffering a practice injury a couple of days later, leaving Cam Johnson -- who has never played an NHL game -- as the team's backup for a pair of games.
Now, with Merzlikins on the shelf, Kivlenieks was recalled to the taxi squad Sunday, and it seems likely he'll be on the active roster going forward. Johnson will stay on the taxi squad, while AHL Cleveland will have to run with prospect Veini Vehvilainen and veteran/parttime coach Brad Thiessen in net.
It's not ideal, but what has been this year? And if we're being honest, isn't this starting to feel like last year a little bit? The Blue Jackets had one of the worst seasons of injury luck in franchise history, but somehow that made the team stronger, as Columbus earned points in 24 of 26 games from December through February despite all the players on the shelf.
Merzlikins now joins Zach Werenski (lower body), David Savard (illness) and Gus Nyquist (shoulder surgery), who all missed the last game and would be regulars in a normal world. It's not quite a year ago when the Jackets had up to 10 players out at times, but it's still adversity to deal with.
No one in the league will feel sorry for the Jackets, though. They simply have to keep going through it. And maybe, like a year ago, it can help the team become stronger.
