The best of Elvis Merzlikins ... so far

Rarely in sports can a dividing line be seen so strongly in a season as the one you'll find in Elvis Merzlikins' stats this year.

In his first 10 appearances, the rookie from Latvia was 0-4-4 with a 3.41 goals-against average and .889 save percentage. In his last 23 games, starting with his first-ever start and win in Nationwide Arena on New Year's Eve vs. Florida, Merzlikins was 13-5-4 with a 1.97 GAA and .935 save percentage.

It was a remarkable turnaround and one that saved the Blue Jackets' season, as his performance after the injury to Joonas Korpisalo allowed the team to continue its rise up the Eastern Conference standings.

"It wasn't an easy job that I had mentally when we started the season with the rough start," he said. "It was hard to accept that I had the rough start and then was the backup. And then I had my moment when I could change the things and I changed it. I got confident obviously because I played more games consistently, and the perfect thing was that I was working really hard with (goalie coach Manny Legace) and he helped me to get to that level. Without his help I wouldn't get to that level. I was in the perfect spot in the perfect moment."

Merzlikins' finished the year with a 13-9-8 record, 2.35 GAA and .923 save percentage, with his save percentage placing fifth among all NHL goalies who played at least 25 games. He also had five shutouts -- all in an eight-game stretch -- to place second in the league behind Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck.

His athletic playing style and personality also took Columbus and the NHL by storm, from his enthusiastic post-victory leaps into the arms of captain Nick Foligno to his Columbus skyline-themed goalie pads to his turning his goalie stick into a guitar for the postgame celebration after his first-ever shutout at Vegas.

The Blue Jackets are scheduled to resume the season Aug. 2 vs. Toronto, but for now, watch the video above for highlights from Merzlikins' season.