Merzlikins gets his groove back in Columbus Blue Jackets' OT loss to Minnesota Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. ― Statistically, Elvis Merzlikins began turning around a dreadful season on Jan. 28 in Seattle.

The Blue Jackets goalie allowed three goals on 31 shots against the Seattle Kraken that night in a loss, but multiple saves were reminiscent of Merzlikins as a Blue Jackets rookie in 2019-20, when he arrived from Switzerland with a brash attitude. Merzlikins is 1-2-2 with a 3.04 goals-against average and .907 save percentage since, but his numbers are only part of the story.

Elvis has officially returned to the building after a dazzling 41-save effort Sunday to help the Blue Jackets earn a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild, and his return to a confident strut didn’t start in the Pacific Northwest. It happened in the Caribbean with his wife, Aleksandra, during the Blue Jackets’ off week and NHL all-star break earlier this month.

“I think the all-star break was great, going with my wife on vacation, even if I did not deserve it,” said Merzlikins, who spent a week in Turks and Caicos. “I still went because my wife deserved it, with (caring for) my son and all that. She needed to relax more than I did, so I was just kind of her backup friend to talk to on an island.”

There was also time to work through what stressed him out during a season plagued by injury, illness and too many bad bounces.

“Honestly, sitting by the beach and looking at just the ocean and reading the book, it made me (find) that quick release and, like, stop thinking about what the hell was going on,” Merzlikins said. “I did it my way. I scream in the middle of the ocean. Let it out. Everything. Tears. Everything. You know? Get drunk. Whatever. I did everything. But I got prepared, as well.”

Merzlikins has strung together five strong games, including his most impressive effort of the season against the Wild on Sunday. Kirill Kaprisov got the better of him with his third career hat trick in the NHL — scoring twice in the third period plus the OT winner with just under 20 seconds left — but Merzlikins gave the Blue Jackets an “old Elvis” performance.

He stopped 13 shots in each of the first two periods to protect a 2-0 lead built on goals by Mathieu Olivier and Liam Foudy and finished with 41 saves. Merzlikins also turned aside five of Kaprizov’s game-high eight shots, including a breakaway 11 seconds into the second period and another moments later off a juicy rebound for Kaprizov from the slot.

“He’s not happy with how it’s gone the first chunk of the season,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “So, he’s trying to find it. And he’s on a long-term deal. You can’t just throw away a year and say, ‘Well, look forward to next year.’ We still have a lot of games left.”

More:Vladislav Gavrikov, Columbus Blue Jackets play the waiting game as deadline nears

More:Columbus Blue Jackets more concerned with winning games than draft lottery

To be exact, the Blue Jackets have 22 games remaining and left for Buffalo following Sunday’s game to prepare for the next one Tuesday. There's plenty of time for Merzlikins to complete his turnaround, especially if Joonas Korpisalo is dealt prior to the March 3 deadline.

For Merzlikins, the key to staying on his current trajectory might be taking each game like a day at the beach.

“I really don’t care if I do mistakes on the ice,” he said. “I’m just out there having fun and my teammates are helping me to have fun. They are blocking the shots."

Columbus Blue Jackets push back against Minnesota Wild

There’s no nice way to describe what happened to the Blue Jackets when they visited Xcel Energy Center last year. The bigger, stronger and meaner Wild bullied them from start to finish with big hits and physical intimidation tactics in all zones.

Minnesota tried it again Sunday, but the Blue Jackets bit back when Marcus Foligno, Jordan Greenway, Matt Boldy and Matt Dumba delivered heavy hits or took liberties with Columbus players. Olivier and hulking defenseman Erik Gudbranson, each acquired last summer to increase the toughness quotient, made sure there were answers.

That included the end of the first, when Dumba drilled Tim Berni inside the Wild’s blue line as the horn sounded and shoved the Blue Jackets’ rookie defenseman as he tried getting up. Gudbranson and Minnesota power forward Ryan Reaves got into a shoving and shouting match during the scrum, which nearly led to an all-out brawl before a linesman calmed things down.

“I’ve heard a little bit about what happened (last year),” said Olivier, often a willing combatant acquired from the Nashville Predators last summer. “I think that was part of the reason they wanted to address that last summer. I wasn’t here, so I don’t know exactly what happens, but I didn’t feel any of that (in Sunday’s game)."

Boqvist injured, Sweezey makes NHL debut for Columbus Blue Jackets

Larsen said one Blue Jackets player would be a “game time decision,” against the Wild on Sunday because of an undisclosed injury situation stemming from the Blue Jackets’ 6-5 victory Saturday over the Edmonton Oilers.

Adam Boqvist was scratched with a lower-body injury and Vladislav Gavrikov watched his seventh game as a healthy scratch for trade protection, paving the way for defenseman Billy Sweezey, 27, to make his NHL debut. Sweezey, recalled Friday from the Cleveland Monsters (AHL), skated on the right side of the third pairing with Gavin Bayreuther.

Sweezey played 10:01, finishing with three blocked shots. Boqvist’s injury meant Nick Blankenburg quarterbacked the Blue Jackets' top power-play group. Gavin Bayreuther ran the point for the second unit.

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

Get more Columbus Blue Jackets talk on the Cannon Fodder podcast

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets' Merzlikins gets groove back against Wild