Twice in the last week, we've talked about the elephant in the room. While the goaltending has improved for the Blue Jackets, it just hasn't been good enough. Last night, it seems that we saw the final straw.
Elvis Merzlikins was leaky (dare we say "merz-leaky"?) in a surprisingly important divisional matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers. Yes, the team came out slow and lost a lot of puck battles. But, they also only allowed 24 shots on goal, and I counted two, maybe even three weak Flyers goals.
In a game that will matter if this team comes down to the wire in the playoff hunt, Elvis gave up 2 goals more than expected (per moneypuck). This exacerbates the issue we have been talking about: the goaltending in Columbus has not been up to par.
This team, after the loss of its lone superstar forward, is having to outscore their goaltending woes to win hockey games. Simply put, while the high octane offense has been a lot of fun to watch this season; at some point it's going to slow down. Kent Johnson won't shoot over 20% all year. Sean Monahan is a great player, but I don't see him scoring 80+ points this season. Zach Werenski can only carry them so far.
The time has come for this team to address the real issue: how can we bring down our goals against?
They can't fire the coaching staff for a variety of reasons - not the least of which is, they have done a pretty good job so far. There aren't any major roster-altering decisions to be made on the back-end. And, likewise, I think things are improving here as well.
The only real option they have at their disposal, is to try a new goaltender. Elvis Merzlikins has been good at times, but I can't really use the word great at any point so far this season. Daniil Tarasov has been outright unplayable, and my opinion is that they need to cut all ties with the oft-injured 25-year-old prospect. I just don't see him as part of the solution.
Consequences bring action...
Neither guy is getting it done, so this morning, the Jackets took a step in the right direction by recalling Jet Greaves from the AHL's Cleveland Monsters. Better yet, they went one step further and named him as the starter tomorrow night.
While his numbers don't jump off the page this season, he has been a big part of the Monsters' success this year; even winning six straight starts last month. He's had very solid numbers in his brief stints with the Jackets over the last couple of seasons as well. I'm excited to see what happens with him in goal.
If he has a good start tomorrow, I think there's a chance we see him again over the weekend with a back-to-back coming up. If he has another good start at that point, we may be looking at an organizational shift in goal sooner than we expected. It's about time.