The Columbus Blue Jackets have assigned goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks to the Cleveland Monsters.
Matiss Kivlenieks was the odd man out in Columbus due to the return of Elvis Merzlikins. As a result the Blue Jackets announced Sunday morning that they have assigned Kivlenieks to the Cleveland Monsters.
Matiss Kivlenieks returns to Cleveland after his latest stint with Columbus. Kivlenieks has been the injury replacement for two different goaltenders. At first it was Joonas Korpisalo, then it was Elvis Merzlikins. With both healthy, Kivlenieks can return to a Monsters team in need of some good goaltending.
Cleveland is coming off two straight losses to Laval Rocket in which they allowed five goals in both games. Whether it was Veini Vehvilainen or Brad Thiessen, they had a hard time keeping Laval off the scoreboard. With Kivlenieks returning to Cleveland it should take Thiessen out of the rotation for the time being.
Kivlenieks has appeared in 19 games for the Cleveland Monsters this season. The 23-year old goaltender has a save-percentage of .904 and GAA of 2.97. Kivlenieks performed at a similar level up with Columbus with a save percentage of .898 and a GAA of 2.95 in six games.
