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Columbus Blue Jackets steal win with Merzlikins against New Jersey Devils: 3 takeaways
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- Columbus Blue Jackets steal win with Merzlikins against New Jersey Devils: 3 takeaways
Sometimes, the goalie just needs to steal one.
More: Merzlikins' 40 saves help Columbus Blue Jackets' end five-game slide
That's what Elvis Merzlikins did for the Blue Jackets on Thursday at Nationwide Arena while being showered with pucks in a 4-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils . The Jackets also blocked 24 attempts and scored timely goals to build a 3-0 lead after two periods, but Merzlikins was the biggest reason their five-game winless skid didn't reach six.
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He was outstanding despite the Devils scoring two 6-on-5 goals in the game's final five minutes before Sean Monahan sealed the Blue Jackets' win with an empty-netter.
"(Merzlikins) kept us in there at times and he made timely saves, big saves, highlight reels ones that I'm sure we'll see a lot of," Monahan said. "He stepped up for us tonight and big credit to him."
Here are three takeaways:
Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins makes a save against the Devils on Thursday.
Columbus Blue Jackets dominated by New Jersey Devils in everything except goals
Understanding how fantastic Merzlikins was requires a closer look at the Devils' dominance, particularly in the third.
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New Jersey lost despite doubling the Blue Jackets' totals in almost every offensive category except for goals. They finished the night with a 97-42 edge in total attempts (69.8%), a 42-20 margin in shots on goal (67.7%) and, according to Natural Stat Trick , sweeping advantages in unblocked attempts (68-33), scoring chances (55-18) and high-danger chances (23-7).
As percentages, that's 67.3% of unblocked attempts, 75.3% of scoring chances and 76.7% of high-danger chances while generating a 67.4% of expected goals (5.69-2.76). It's even more staggering when filtering to the third period, where the Devils scored two goals while creating 93.1% of scoring chances (27-2) and 93.8% of high-danger looks (15-1).
After a massive scrum in front of the net, Devils defenseman Luke Hughes scores a goal in the third period against the Blue Jackets on Thursday.
New Jersey also pulled goalie Jake Allen with more than 5:30 remaining for a 6-on-5 extra-attacker edge that produced both Devils goals along with seven shots on goal, nine misses and seven blocked attempts for 23 attempts.
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Devils center Jack Hughes didn't score a goal despite finishing with 13 shots in 22 attempts. His brother, Luke Hughes , scored a goal on six shots in 11 attempts. Combined, the siblings accounted for 24 of the Devils' 42 shots and 33 of their 97 attempts. Jack Hughes' shot total tied former Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp for most in a single game by an opposing player against Columbus since Oct. 15, 2010, when he launched that many at Steve Mason in a 5-2 loss for the Blue Jackets.
"They were coming (at us) really hard," Merzlikins said. "They're a great team and ... (there were) players were all around the crease. There (were) too many sticks, too many skates. There was a point where I couldn't even understand what (was) going on there. We cleared it out there. We scored the last goal, which closed the game, and that's huge. Happy for the win."
Columbus Blue Jackets fare better in goals during second period
New Jersey pinned Columbus into its own zone for much of the second period, a season-long issue, and lopsided advantages resulted in everything but goals.
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The Devils were outscored 2-0, trailing 3-0 starting the third, but it wasn't for lack of trying. New Jersey finished the game with huge margins in attempts (28-19), shots (17-8) and scoring chances (16-10). What the Devils didn't get was a single goal thanks to Merzlikins' handiwork – including twice robbing Jack Hughes on what looked like sure goals. The first was a desperation glove save off a great look from the right circle, while the second was a lunging pad/blocker combination against Hughes from the left wing.
The Blue Jackets took advantage of their goalie's heroics, pushing their lead to 3-0 on goals in the second by Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan, but that's not an advisable way to consistently win games. Still, outscoring an opponent like the Devils in the second period was at least a small sign of progress.
Zach Werenski, Kirill Marchenko and Sean Monahan not slowing down for Columbus Blue Jackets
Zach Werenski extended his home point streak to 10 straight games with a power-play goal, Kirill Marchenko's two assists made him the fourth fastest player in Blue Jackets history to reach 100 points (55 goals, 45 assists) and Monahan's 2-1-3 scoring line kept his strong start to the season going at 11 goals, 17 assists and 28 points in 33 games.
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It was Werenski's 11th goal, putting him on pace to score 27 goals for the season. That would exceed his career-high of 20 goals in 63 games during the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season. Marchenko, meanwhile, reached 100 points in 170 games, trailing only Pierre-Luc Dubois (142 games), Nikolay Zherdev (150 games) and Rick Nash (164 games).
Offensive output for the Blue Jackets was overshadowed by the Devils' dominance and Merzlikins on Thursday, but the their top three scorers produced just enough to stave off the losing streak. Now, they'll need to do it more for a string of wins to stay in the playoff chase.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets get impressive goalie win over New Jersey Devils
