Elvis Merzļikins | Foto: Kirk Irwin/Getty Images/AFP
Last night in the National Hockey League (NHL), Elvis Merzlikin and the Columbia Blue Jackets lost 2: 3 to Pittsburgh’s Penguins, who are still playing without injured Theodore Bluger. This was the Columbus unit’s second loss in a row.
Merzlikin was previously injured, so Jean-François Berubes, who helped Blue Jackets win three games in four games in a row. Against the “Penguins”, the Latvian goalkeeper returned to the field, repelling 37 out of 40 opponents’ throws or 92.5%. In the opposite goal, Casey DeSmits handled 32 out of 34 Blue Jackets hockey shots, or 94.1%.
In the first period, each team scored one goal. Oliver Bjorkstrand did it in the Blue Jackets, but Chad Ruhvedel was successful in the Penguins. Meanwhile, Columbus striker Jack Roslovich was accurate in the second third, while Penguins leaders Eugene Malkin and Sydney Crosby scored two unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes, bringing the team their second success in a row.
The Blue Jackets, with 55 points in 53 matches, are ninth in the Eastern Conference table, while the Penguins are in fourth place in the East with 74 points in 55 games.
