In Las Vegas,Elvis Merzlikins pitched his first shut out when he made 27 saves in a 3-0 win for the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Golden Knights.
“I dreamed about it. Why not? It would be a great feeling to get my first NHL shutout here in Vegas,” Merzlikins said. “I saw today people were pumping up, they did a picture of me, that I am in the building. It was pretty funny.
Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal for Columbus in win in Vegas – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“I’m really, really happy and really thankful to my teammates.”
It was his first NHL shut out.
“I thought we played really good as a team,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said. “And when we had breakdowns, Elvis was strong.”
Alexander Wennberg, Emil Bemstrom and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jackets.
“It’s kind of a playoff atmosphere every time you play here,” Pierre-Luc Dubois said. “The music’s loud, the fans are going. It can work on both sides, I think. Obviously, them being at home it can work on their side, but before the game, after warmups, we were all coming in here laughing because it’s so fun. It’s like a playoff game. The atmosphere here is crazy.”
[WATCH: All Blue Jackets vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves in the loss.
“It was kind of a frustrating game, but you knew it was going to be a tight-checking game,” Vegas forward Paul Stastny said. “Obviously, [Fleury] played good, and then we don’t put up anything offensively, so there’s not much we can do.”
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