The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks off Injured Reserve and assigned him to the Cleveland Monsters, the team's American Hockey League Affiliate, club General Manager and Alternate Governor Jarmo Kekalainen announced today.
Kivlenieks, 24, has missed the last five games with a lower body injury suffered in practice on February 6. He went 1-1-2 with a 2.95 GAA and .898 SV% in six games with the Blue Jackets in 2019-20, including a 31-save performance to beat the New York Rangers, 2-1, at Madison Square Garden in his NHL debut on Jan. 19, 2020. The 6-2, 183-pound goaltender also posted a 9-8-3 mark with a 2.96 GAA, .904 SV% and one shutout in 20 games with the Monsters last season. Signed by Columbus as a free agent on May 25, 2017, the Riga, Latvia native has gone 27-33-8 with a 3.23 GAA, .892 SV% and three shutouts in 77 career AHL games over the past three seasons.
The Blue Jackets return to action tonight when they host the Nashville Predators. Game time from Nationwide Arena is 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Ohio and the FOX Sports Go app with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. with the "Blue Jackets Live" pre-game show. It will also be broadcast on the Eldorado Gaming Scioto Downs Blue Jackets Radio Network, including 105.7 FM in Columbus.
CBJ activate G Matiss Kivlenieks off IR, assign to Cleveland
