Last night, one of the most confusing but hilarious moments happened between Columbus Blue Jackets ' Elvis Merzļikins and Toronto Maple Leafs ' Auston Matthews. Seven minutes into the first period, Merzļikins and Matthews both lost their sticks at the same time, which resulted in both players picking up the wrong stick.
The Jackets weren't given much of a chance in this game, but they played a true "Team Game" to upset Cup favorite Toronto. They've now outscored the Maple Leafs 11-3 in two games this season.
Fantilli's first NHL hat trick, two-point game for Del Belluz and a big night from Merzlikins in net help Blue Jackets stun the Maple Leafs.
Adam Fantilli scored three goals for his first career hat trick, Elvis Merzlikins stopped 28 shots, and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1.
Related: Columbus Blue Jackets (51 pts) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (62 pts) Game Preview. Projected Lineup **Lines Subject to Change Prior to gametime. Dmitri Voronkov - Adam Fantill
TORONTO - Adam Fantilli registered his first career hat trick and Elvis Merzlikins made 29 saves as the Columbus Blue Jackets thumped the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 on Wednesday.
Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves. Kent Johnson scored for Columbus and Elvis Merzlikins had 22 saves, but the Blue Jackets ended a seven-game point streak (6-0-1). The Islanders scored three goals in a ...
At this stage of our existence, it’s rare to see something unprecedented, but Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews entered a truly bizarre interaction during Wednesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Merzlikins stopped 28 of 29 shots in Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Maple Leafs.
The Leafs looked like the better team for most of the game, but couldn't solve Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins.
The Blue Jackets (23-18-7) have needed Fantilli, who was up against Toronto's top line featuring Auston Matthews most of Wednesday, to step into the No. 1 centre role this month with Sean Monahan out injured. Playing down the middle in the NHL is difficult at the best of times. It's even harder when you're still learning the pro game on the fly.