Monday evening at Nationwide Arena (7 p.m.), Elvis Merzlikins will return in front of the Blue Jackets net against the Edmonton Oilers after a hand injury led to Daniil Tarasov has started the last four games. Merzlikins supported Tarasov in the last two matches of this sequence, and will face a difficult challenge in his first action since suffer a difficult loss against the Florida Panthers on October 15 in the Jackets’ home opener.

This is the Oilers’ only visit of the season to Columbus, where they have not won since Oct. 30, 2019 in a 4-1 victory that included Merzlikins going 19 for 19 in saves while relieving the Former Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo. Five years later, the Blue Jackets are looking to bounce back after a frustrating 4-3 overtime loss Saturday in Nashville.

Check here before, during and after the game for updates, scans and more.

Front lines

Egor Chinakhov — Sean Monahan — Kirill Marchenko

Mikael Pyyhtia — Adam Fantilli — Cole Sillinger

Zach Aston-Reese — Justin Danforth — Mathieu Olivier

James van Riemsdyk — Sean Kuraly — Kevin Labanc

Defense pairs

Zach Werenski — Ivan Provorov

Jake Christiansen—Damon Severson

Jack Johnson—Jordan Harris

Goalkeepers

Elvis Merzlikins

Daniel Tarasov

Striped: Dr David Jiricek

News from the Columbus Blue Jackets’ morning skate against the Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers won 3-2 on Sunday in Detroit, so they did not hold a morning skate at Nationwide Arena on Monday. It’s the fifth time in the Blue Jackets’ first eight games that an opponent has completed a back-to-back inning that began 24 hours earlier. Edmonton started goaltender Calvin Pickard against the Red Wings, so the Blue Jackets should play Stuart Skinner.

Columbus had the option for several players to sit out the morning skate due to illness, so the Jackets could be missing several lineup regulars. Injured striker Dmitri Voronkov (shoulder) participated in training and continues to make progress in his recovery.