‘Never apologize for great goaltending’: Merzlikins still shines for Blue Jackets
The Vancouver Canucks controlled every facet of Friday’s game against the Blue Jackets through the first two periods except the score, which remained 2-2 heading into the third.
Elvis Merzlikins was the biggest reason it remained tied.
Merzlikins stopped 12 of 13 shots in the first period and 15 of 16 in the second. He went 12-for-12 in the third, shutting the door completely while the Blue Jackets figured out how to retake the lead and win 4-2.
“I’ll never apologize for great goaltending, because in this league you’ve got to have it,” said Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen. “If you don’t have it, you have no chance.”
According to Natural Stat Trick, Vancouver built a 70/30 percentage edge in attempts at even strength and 16-5 margin in shots on goal. Overall, accounting for all situations, the Canucks started the third with 75% of the game’s attempts (48-16) and 76% of its scoring chances (19-6).
They finished with a 64/36 percentage edge in attempts and 65/35 edge in scoring chances (26-14), keeping Merzlikins locked into the game to the end.
“You can’t lose the focus,” Merzlikins said. “Really, not even a half second. In my situation, I know the boys are there. Even though they are going to be tired, they’re still going to block the shots for me and they are going to try their best. If they are slow because they are tired, then it’s obviously up to me to save it or maybe give some small rebound in front for them, so maybe they can ice it or whatever they do with that puck.”
The Blue Jackets were in slow motion Friday.
“Some of these nights, you’re not even mad,” said Larsen, who shuffled his forward lines a couple times in search of a spark that didn’t arrive until the third period. “You can tell that they just don’t have it and we’re going to have games like that. But the only thing I said (in the second intermission) was, ‘Let’s just try and find a way to win this. Play a (good period) here. Let’s try to piece together a (good period), see what happens, you know?’ ”
Merzlikins denied on attempt at empty net
It’s no secret that Merzlikins wants to score a “goalie goal” into an empty cage at the other end of the ice at some point. He’d already tried, unsuccessfully, a couple of times in previous games and got another look late in this one.
This time, he got to a loose puck behind his net with less than 10 seconds left off a dump-in by the Canucks. Quickly gathering it, he took a peek at the empty net and lifted a shot with a high trajectory over the heads of his teammates and the Canucks. It didn’t get very far after a Canuck knocked it down in the Blue Jackets’ zone with a stick extended high overhead. Merzlikins wasn’t amused.
“I got really upset,” he said. “Really upset. I didn’t know what was happening over there, if the defensemen were there, but if there was a clear zone, that was going in. That was flying straight, perfectly high, that one was going in.”
BLUE JACKETS 4, CANUCKS 2
Vancouver 1 1 0 — 2
Columbus 1 1 2 — 4
First Period: 1, Columbus, Nyquist 4, 13:54 (sh). 2, Vancouver, Podkolzin 4 (Dowling), 19:31. Penalties: Dowling, VAN (Tripping), 7:50; Werenski, CBJ (Roughing), 12:36.
Second Period: 3, Columbus, Boqvist 2 (Bayreuther, Sillinger), 6:17. 4, Vancouver, Motte 1 (Hughes, Chiasson), 18:42. Penalty: Chinakhov, CBJ (Delay of Game), 10:28.
Third Period: 5, Columbus, Roslovic 3 (Gavrikov, Voracek), 6:06. 6, Columbus, Domi 3 (Nyquist), 18:25 (en).
Shots on Goal: Vancouver 13-16-12 - 41. Columbus 4-6-11 - 21. Power-plays: Vancouver 0 of 2; Columbus 0 of 1. Goalies: Vancouver, Demko 6-10-1 (20 shots-17 saves). Columbus, Merzlikins 9-3-0 (41-39). A: 16,992 (18,500). T: 2:20.