Blue Jackets at Golden Knights preview

BLUE JACKETS (21-16-8) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (24-17-6)
10 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, FS-O, NHL.TV

Elvis Merzlikins will start for the Blue Jackets, who are 6-1-3 in their past 10 road games.
The Golden Knights will look to win for the first time in three games when they conclude a seven-game homestand. Vegas, which was defeated by the Los Angles Kings 5-3 on Thursday, is 4-2-0 on the homestand.

Players to watch

Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski has seven goals in his past six games.
Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in the past 15 games.

They said it

"I don't think our game has been consistent the past few games. I think the past three, four games, I think it's been inconsistent." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"I think the last couple of games haven't been our best starts. We want to learn from those mistakes and forget about it but know what we have to do to be better." -- Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Gustav Nyquist -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Nathan Gerbe
Sonny Milano -- Boone Jenner -- Nick Foligno
Emil Bemstrom -- Alex Wennberg -- Kevin Stenlund
Jakob Lilja -- Riley Nash -- Eric Robinson
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Vladislav Gavrikov -- David Savard
Scott Harrington -- Markus Nutivaara
Elvis Merzlikins
Matiss Kivlenieks
Scratched: Ryan MacInnis, Gabriel Carlsson
Injured: Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), Cam Atkinson (ankle), Josh Anderson (shoulder), Oliver Bjorkstrand (rib, oblique), Ryan Murray (lower body), Joonas Korpisalo (knee), Andrew Peeke (finger), Alexandre Texier (back), Dean Kukan (knee)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Chandler Stephenson -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty -- Paul Stastny -- Mark Stone
William Carrier -- Cody Eakin -- Alex Tuch
Keegan Kolesar
-- Tomas Nosek -- Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Nick Holden -- Shea Theodore
Jon Merrill -- Deryk Engelland
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Scratched: Nicolas Hague
Injured:Cody Glass (lower body), Jonathan Marchessault (lower body)

Status report

Atkinson, a forward is close to returning but will not play. … Kolesar, a third-round pick by Columbus (No. 69) in the 2015 NHL Draft, will make his NHL debut on the fourth line. Vegas recalled Kolesar from Chicago of the American Hockey League on Friday and reassigned forward Nicolas Roy. … Marchessault is a game-time decision but the forward likely will miss his fifth consecutive game.

Stat pack

Fleury is one win from tying Henrik Lundqvist (458) of the New York Rangers for fifth place on the NHL all-time win list. Lundqvist will start against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. … Dubois has five assists in his past three games. … Stone has 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in his past 15 games. … Stastny has five points (two goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak.