Three Things: Goal Called Back, Goalie Duel and an OT Hero

By Peter Fish on February 4, 2020 at 9:40 pm
Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins (90) makes a pad save as Florida Panthers left wing Jonathan Huberdeau (11) looks for a rebound during the first period at Nationwide Arena.
Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports
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The Columbus Blue Jackets broke through to beat the Florida Panthers in overtime.

In the first, Columbus took the play to Florida which lead to an early 10-3 shot lead in favor of the Jackets and shot on net that was called back due to goalie interference. The Panthers evened up the play and the shot total by the end of the period.

The second was a lot like the first. Plenty of back-and-forth action, but both goaltenders stepped up and kept it a 0-0 game.

The third continued exactly like the first two periods with both teams getting chances and both goalies shutting them down. Which lead to overtime at Nationwide and a shot by Werenski to break the tie and give the Jackets win.

Let's get into tonight's three things.


No Goal

It looked as though the Jackets had found a goal in the first when a shot by Boone Jenner beat Bobrovsky glove-side, but upon replay, Atkinson had interfered with Bob's glove.

As the puck was heading towards the net, Atkinson reached out with his stick to try and deflect the puck on its way to the net but ended up pushing Bob's glove out of the way of the puck. 

Goalie Duel

Last season Bobrovsky and Merzlikins were teammates, but tonight they went head-to-head and what happened was an intense goalie duel.

Bob has struggled this season with the Panthers, but he was on his game tonight against his former team, while Elvis is just continuing to do what he has done over the last month, which is making life difficult for opposing players.

It took only two minutes of overtime to break the 0-0 tie.

OT Hero

Zach Werenski picked the loose puck off the boards by the goal line, saw an open lane to the net and beat Bob short-side. Werenski tied the franchise record for most goals by a defenseman in a single season which is also held by Jones and himself from the 2017-18 season.

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