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Elvis Merzļikins | Foto: NHL
In the National Hockey League (NHL), Latvian goalkeeper Elvis Merzlikins repelled a record number of shots in one match tonight, but despite this, he was unable to save Columbus’ Blue Jackets from a major defeat (0: 6) in his field against the Calgary Flames.
Merzlikins took the place in the Blue Jackets goal tonight in the second match in a row. The Latvian goalkeeper conceded six puck, but fought off an impressive number of shots. Elvis handled 56 of the 62 (90.3%) throws made by the opposing hockey players. In none of the previous NHL games had Merliklin had so many shots.
Flames, with 62 shots on the Merzlikkin goal, has seen the highest number of shots in a single regular season match in 30 years. The record for the number of shots per game in the regular championship belongs to the Boston Bruins, which in 1991 threatened the opponent’s fortress 73 times.
Calgary dominated from the start of the match and made 16 shots on Elvis’ goal in the first third (Columbus only answered with nine shots in the first 20 minutes). The Swedish striker Mikael Baklunds beat Merzlikin in the fifth minute and put the guests in the lead (1: 0), but in the continuation of the first period the Latvian goalkeeper showed an impeccable performance and no more puck was allowed.
In the second third, the Flames made 23 shots on the Elvis-guarded fortress (Blue Jackets threatened their opponents’ goal only eight times). Merzlikin remained unbeaten for a long time after the first goal was scored, but at the end of the second period he capitulated twice in less than five minutes. Andrew Manzapane doubled the visitors’ lead in the 36th minute (2: 0), but Matthew Tkachuk reached 3: 0 six seconds before the end of the second quarter.
Calgary continued to dominate in the final round of the game and, as in the second period, took 23 shots at Merzlikkin’s goal (Columbus responded with only six shots). Elvis scored three more laps in the last 20 minutes of regular time. Sweden’s Elias Lindholm was already disappointing Merzlikina in the third 30th second (4: 0), but in the continuation of the regular time in the interval of 41 seconds Ēriks Gudransons and Tkačuks defeated the Latvian goalkeeper, who stood out for the second time – 6: 0.
The Blue Jackets lost for the third time in a row and failed for the eighth time in the last 11 matches. Columbus has not won a match against Philadelphia’s Flyers since Jan. 21, which he defeated with a 2: 1 defeat to Merzickin. Meanwhile, this was the second success of Flames in a row. Calgary recently ended a series of four lost games.
With 37 points won in 40 matches, the Blue Jackets currently rank tenth in the Eastern Conference. Flames, on the other hand, scored 46 points in two games and ranked eighth in the Western Conference.
Columbus will play the next match in the coming night, when at 2:00 the third strongest club of the Western Conference “Rangers” will be played in their field, which has suffered only one loss in the last six games.
