Gameday No. 34: Elvis and Blue Jackets look to keep the momentum going in Philadelphia on Saturday night

How can Elvis Merzlikins possibly add an encore to Thursday’s performance?

We’ll find out.

Elvis gets the start on Saturday night when the Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Philadelphia Flyers from the City of Brotherly Love.

Merzlikins made a season-high 40 saves in a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils two nights ago, with three saves impressive enough to earn praise from the NHL’s official X account (formerly known as Twitter).

The win ended a five-game losing streak for Columbus that began on Dec. 10 with a 5-3 loss to the Flyers.

Here’s what else you should know as Elvis and the Jackets look to get revenge in Philly:

• Subject: Flyer
  The Flyers are on a three-game losing streak and were defeated 17-8. That includes a 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on home ice on Thursday night… Keep an eye on these two Flyers: Matvei Michkov, who leads the league in points as a rookie (27) and has rare offensive skills, and Travis Konecny, who leads the team in goals, assists and points and has scored 17 goals against Columbus in just 27 games.
  
• POWERFUL GAME…ISH
  Zach Werenski’s power-play goal on Thursday made it six of the Blue Jackets’ seven games with a power-play goal. But despite that streak, they’ve fallen from 17th before the start to 20th in power plays. How does this happen? Three of those seven games were 1-5 man-advantage performances, and there has never been a multi-goal power play game this season.
  
• Lineup changes and forecasts
  Only one change in the planned lineup: Kent Johnson and Zach Aston-Reese swap places in the middle six. After a sensational start, Johnson went without a point in three consecutive games and without a goal in five consecutive games.

  James Malatesta, who made his season debut on Thursday, remains in the final lineup alongside Sean Kuraly and Mikael Pyyhtia. He was on the ice for 10:56 in the win over New Jersey.

  Here are the full predictions (subject to change):