The extent of Elvis Merzlikins’ NHL experience, thus far, has been a prospect tournament, a handful of scrimmages and two preseason appearances with the Blue Jackets, with limited lineup regulars surrounding him.

Still, the 25-year-old Latvian goaltender didn’t use inexperience as an excuse for allowing five goals Sunday in a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center.

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“There were a couple good stops, but five goals is a lot to take,” Merzlikins said, shaking his head. “I’m not happy about that, that it’s five. The game was tied (3-3 in the third period). I could do better on the fourth and fifth goals, I guess.

"It’s not excuses, because I’m not a guy who offers excuses, but it’s just … I learned. I learned from the good players.”

What has he learned thus far about NHL players?

Well, for one thing, they’re incredibly skilled, even those on the cusp of becoming full-time NHLers. They shoot harder and with more accuracy than almost any other players on the planet. Their hands are deft and quick. Their passes are right to the tape, occasionally at impossible angles.

“They are really quick with the hands, and they can surprise you, even at the last second,” said Merzlikins, who allowed the first goal in St. Louis to go under his right pad and then was beaten high four straight times from close range. “That’s what I have to learn, and the quicker I learn, the better it’s going to be.”

The goaltender who guarded the Jackets’ net the past seven years, Sergei Bobrovsky, called it a “process,” and belabored that point until it basically became a running joke among media and fans alike.

Merzlikins stands about the same height and weight as Bobrovsky — displaying similar athleticism at times — but he doesn’t use clichés like “it’s a process,” to help erase the sting of five-goal games.

No, Merzlikins says stuff like this instead, when asked if learning to brush off tough games quickly is a skill he needs to hone:

“I completely understand that, but … um … I want to win,” Merzlikins said. “I want to win the games, and it’s more personal, too. I want to perform. I want to show to myself and I want to show to my mom, my brother … these people really give a lot in (the) last (few) years and when I was kid, they basically give everything to me. I want to show them there was a reason for it.”

That’s heavy stuff for a postgame self-assessment of an exhibition game. That’s also Merzlikins, an intensely competitive player who puts a lot of pressure on himself.

“The aura (about him) is in the intensity and the competitiveness that are off the charts,“ Blue Jackets goaltending coach Manny Legace said. “I (can) see why he’s going to rub somebody the wrong way, but I love it. It reminds me of Patrick Roy, like that type of intensity, but Patrick never turned it off. Patrick was Patrick, 24-7, where (Merzlikins) turns it off.”

Making sure he doesn’t forget to use that switch will be one of Legace’s biggest challenges, as Merzlikins heads into his first NHL season in tandem with Joonas Korpisalo.

“He’s a really good kid, but once you put a game situation on, it’s like, ‘Game on, let’s go … I’m gonna beat you, whatever it takes,’” Legace said. “That’s what I love about him, because he’s so competitive, which is awesome. It’s going to carry him a long way.”

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger