Merzlikin had 19 shots in the first two periods at home against the St. Louis Blues and helped the Blue Jackets to a 3-0 victory (1-0, 1-0, 1-0), earning recognition for the first star of the game.
In the third period, Zek Savchenko replaced Merzlikin in the goal and saved 12 visitors’ shots.
Denton Mateichak, Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson each scored a goal for the winners.
In another test match, Latvian forward Sandis Vilmanis stood out with a goal and an assist, while Uvis Jānis Balinskis provided an assist, however, the last season’s champion Florida “Panthers”, represented by them, won 7:8 (2:2, 1:1, 4:5 ) conceded to the Tampa Bay Lightning team without Zemgus Girgenson.
Vilmanis made it 3-3 in the middle of the second period after Balinski’s pass, but in the 53rd minute of the match he assisted Ryan McAllister, who made it 7-5 for “Panthers”. However, they failed to secure the victory, as the home team scored three goals in the remaining time. The winning puck was scored two seconds before the end of regular time for “Lightning” by Conor Geeky, who had a total of 2+1 in the match.
During the game, Vilmanis made three shots on the opponent’s goal and earned a positive efficiency coefficient of +1, while Balinskis made one shot on goal, received two penalty minutes and left the ice with a neutral efficiency coefficient.
The new NHL season will begin in Europe, where the New Jersey Devils will meet the Buffalo Sabers in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, as part of the Global Series on October 4 and 5. In North America, the games of the main tournament will start on October 8.
In the previous season, the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup, beating the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in the final series.
2024-09-27 18:38:24