Viva Elvis: 新人 向こうずねs for streaking Blue Jackets
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Just before he 長，率いるs to the tunnel after a 勝利，勝つ, Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins gets a running start and leaps into the 武器 of captain Nick Foligno in joyful 祝賀.
The "jump 抱擁する" is a big thing in Columbus these days - just like Elvis.
The 25-year-old Latvian 新人, all tattoos and 信用／信任, has quickly become a fan favorite at 全国的な 円形競技場, where Elvis Presley songs are 存在 追加するd to the game day playlist and are blaring from the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s outside.
The feeling is 相互の. Merzlikins says he is happy to be here, celebrating Columbus with images painted on his helmet and the city skyline on his pads. That's a big 取引，協定 to fans who felt snubbed when 星／主役にする goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky couldn´t get to Florida 急速な／放蕩な enough when he became a 解放する／自由な スパイ／執行官 last summer.
It helps that Merzlikins (pronounced merz-LEEK-ins) has 配達するd, too, backstopping a streak that has the Blue Jackets in a プレーオフ position 長，率いるing into second half of the season. The turnaround happened with ever-changing lines in 前線 of him, patched together with rookies called up to 取って代わる 負傷させるd 正規の／正選手s.
"He's been lights out for us," All-星／主役にする defenseman Seth Jones said. "We love his energy, the fans love his energy, and it's something we need in our room."
Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins, of Latvia, celebrates the Blue Jackets' 5-0 NHL ホッケー game 勝利，勝つ over the New Jersey Devils in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Since 存在 plugged into the starting 役割 after newly 造幣局d All-星／主役にする Joonas Korpisalo went 負かす／撃墜する with a 膝 傷害 Dec. 29, Merzlikins is 9-2-0. He has won his last five starts, 含むing three shutouts.
After playing on larger rinks in the スイスの professional league for the first years of his career, Merzlikins - his first 指名する was bestowed by his Elvis-fan father - has proven himself in North America. And in a league where 静かな reticence is the norm, Merzlikins says what he thinks, likes talking to the reporters and shows off when he feels like it.
In Las Vegas - where else? - earlier this month, Merzlikins made 27 saves to get his first NHL shutout. That moved him to strike a classic Elvis 提起する／ポーズをとる on the ice and turn his goal stick into an 空気／公表する guitar. He 調印するd off a postgame interview recently with a nod to the King: "Thank you. Thank you very much."
Coach John Tortorella tends to lament how the game 欠如（する）s 利益／興味ing personalities these days. He has nonetheless tried to keep Elvis-mania in check. He even kept Merzlikins off-限界s to the マスコミ for his first couple of starts.
"I´m not going to be yay-ing all the time, (宣言するing) `Elvis has arrived,´" Tortorella said. "There´s so much more ホッケー to be played. He has so much more to learn. You guys (the マスコミ) can ride with the Elvis story and all the stuff that comes with it. He just needs to go about his 商売／仕事 one day at a time, and that´s the way we´re going to app roach him."
Merzlikins is having fun now, but it took a while. He was 0-4-3 when Korpisalo was 負傷させるd trying to make a stop in a shootout against Boston. Merzlikins was still 捜し出すing his first NHL 勝利，勝つ when he became the starter by attrition Dec. 31 against Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers. Zach Werenski got his first career hat trick that night, and the Blue Jackets won 4-1.
"The first start I had (a 7-2 loss to Pittsburgh Oct. 5) was really 堅い," Merlikins said. "My mom, she always told me that in a 消極的な you´re going to find something 肯定的な. We all saw I was playing, I was losing. In my mind, I was crazy.
"That´s why when it happened with (Korpisalo), the 傷害, I asked to be left alone," he said. "I didn´t want anybody. I didn´t even talk much with my mom and my brother. I didn´t use my phone. I really 肉親，親類d of refocused and left everybody out except my girlfriend. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to refocus, because I understood this could be my last chance and I want to take it."
He said the stifling 圧力 he felt is gone now.
"I just want to (have) fun," he said. "That´s what I was thinking before the game before -- `I have to 勝利，勝つ, I have to 勝利，勝つ, I have to get the points.´ Now, to be honest with you, I just want to go and have fun and not be nervous."
Foligno thus far has received the Elvis "jump 抱擁する" without 傷害, even when the goalie made his highest leap yet after the Blue Jackets won their their sixth straight game just before the All-星／主役にする break.
Foligno is seeing the progression in the young goalie, and not just in the emphatic postgame 祝賀s. Merlikins is still emotional, Foligno said, but now is channeling it in a 肯定的な way.
And if he continues to 勝利，勝つ, his チーム仲間s will put up with Elvis 存在 Elvis.
"His personality is fun, it´s relatable to fans, it´s exciting." Foligno said. "I´d never try to stunt someone´s personality. It makes you who you are - as long as you never try to become bigger than the team."
--
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
___
Follow Mitch Stacy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mitchstacy
Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins, left, of Latvia, stops a 発射 in 前線 of New Jersey Devils 今後 Miles 支持を得ようと努めるd during the third period an NHL ホッケー game in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, とじ込み／提出する photo, Columbus Blue Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins, of Latvia, puts his facemask on after a time out in the third period of an NHL ホッケー game against the Winnipeg Jets in Columbus, Ohio. The 新人 goaltender from Latvia has been terrific since stepping in for 負傷させるd starter Joonas Korpisalo on Dec. 31. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, とじ込み／提出する)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, とじ込み／提出する photo, Columbus Blue Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins, of Latvia, makes a save against the Winnipeg Jets during the third period of an NHL ホッケー game in Columbus, Ohio. The 新人 goaltender from Latvia has been terrific since stepping in for 負傷させるd starter Joonas Korpisalo on Dec. 31. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, とじ込み／提出する)
Columbus Blue Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins, left, of Latvia, and David Savard celebrate the team's 勝利，勝つ against the Caroli na ハリケーンs during the third period of an NHL ホッケー game Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
