NHL Player News

Halverson was recalled from AHL Syracuse on Saturday.

Barring an injury or illness, Halverson could be Tampa Bay's third goaltending option behind Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jonas Johansson. The 28-year-old Halverson hasn't appeared in an NHL regular-season game since 2017-18, when he made one appearance with the Rangers.

Blackwood will guard the road net Saturday against the Canadiens, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports.

Blackwood's dropped his last two starts despite allowing just three goals on 49 shots in that span. The 28-year-old netminder has posted a record of 18-8-3 with two shutouts, a 2.17 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 29 appearances with Colorado this season.

Greaves was assigned to AHL Cleveland on Saturday.

Greaves joined the Blue Jackets on an emergency basis for Friday's 6-3 loss to Columbus because Daniil Tarasov (illness) was unavailable. With Greaves returned to the minors, Tarasov could be available to be Elvis Merzlikins' backup versus the Islanders on Monday.

Fedotov will guard the road net Saturday against the Stars.

Fedotov will make his second start in three games, with Samuel Ersson probable for Sunday's road contest against Chicago. The 28-year-old Fedotov was sharp in his last outing, allowing just one goal on 22 shots in Monday's 2-0 loss to the Lightning. He is 5-12-3 with a 2.98 GAA and an .887 save percentage this season.

Montembeault will guard the home net Saturday against Colorado, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports.

Montembeault has not lost in regulation since Feb. 9 -- he's gone 7-0-2 with a .914 save percentage in his last nine outings. The 28-year-old netminder will look to keep rolling in a tough matchup with an Avs team that's averaging 3.33 goals per game.

Shesterkin will guard the home net Saturday against Vancouver, Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today.

Shesterkin will get the call against the Canucks as he looks to snap a three-game losing streak -- he's allowed nine goals on 86 shots in that span. Overall, the 29-year-old netminder is 23-25-4 with a .907 save percentage this season.

Merzlikins allowed five goals on 33 shots in Friday's 6-3 loss to the Penguins. The sixth goal was an empty-netter.

Merzlikins started for the second day in a row, and the results weren't pretty. The Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 47-34, but the defense wasn't sound and the offense had a tough time converting its chances, while Merzlikins wasn't able to keep things close. This was his sixth straight defeat, dropping him to 1-5-1 with 24 goals allowed over seven games in March. Overall, the 30-year-old netminder has a 22-19-5 record with a 3.04 GAA and an .896 save percentage through 46 appearances this season. The Blue Jackets have the rest of the weekend off before visiting the Islanders on Monday, giving Merzlikins enough time to be ready for his next attempt to snap his skid.

Nedeljkovic stopped 44 of 47 shots in Friday's 6-3 win over the Blue Jackets.

Even in the second half of their back-to-back, the Blue Jackets found plenty of chances, but they couldn't keep pace with the Penguins' suddenly surging offense. Nedeljkovic did enough to get the job done, with the 44 saves marking a season high for the Ohio native. He's also undefeated in three outings when facing more than 40 shots on net this season. Overall, Nedeljkovic is up to 13-14-5 with a 3.16 GAA and an .893 save percentage over 34 outings. The Penguins have rolled with Tristan Jarry lately, but he and Nedeljkovic are both likely to struggle if they start either Sunday versus the Panthers or Tuesday versus the Lightning.

Tarasov will be unavailable for Friday's road game against the Penguins due to an illness, Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers reports.

Elvis Merzlikins will start Friday's matchup, while Jet Greaves will serve as the backup due to Tarasov's illness. Tarasov should tentatively be considered day-to-day ahead of Monday's road game against the Islanders, although he's seen sporadic playing time in recent weeks, starting in just three of the Blue Jackets' 12 games since the 4 Nations break.

Merzlikins is expected to start on the road against Pittsburgh on Friday, per Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers.

Merzlikins has a 22-18-5 record, 3.00 GAA and .897 save percentage in 45 appearances in 2024-25. He'll be starting for the second straight game after stopping 28 of 29 shots en route to a 1-0 overtime loss Thursday. Merzlikins has previously faced the Penguins twice this campaign, winning both of those games while stopping 41 of 46 shots (.891 save percentage).