Blue Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins: Starting against Canucks

Merzlikins will start Friday's home game against the Canucks, Jeff Svoboda of the Blue Jackets' official site reports.

Merzlikins is coming off a 36-save shutout against the Jets on Wednesday, which improved his record to 8-3-0 along with a 2.44 GAA and .926 save percentage. He'll have a nice opportunity to improve those marks further against a Canucks team that's off to a 6-12-2 start. Vancouver's averaging only 2.30 goals per game -- fifth-fewest in the league.