The Blue Jackets playing at the Olympics had a fine start on Thursday

The first two days of Olympic hockey have already given us a lot of entertainment. For Blue Jackets fans, yesterday afternoon's matchup between team Latvia and team USA was especially appealing.

That game featured both of the CBJ players in the tournament, facing off against one another. When Latvia announced that Elvis Merzlikins would get the start, it was an exciting moment for the 5th Line.

Elvis is finding his rhythm.

Fortunately, Elvis looked pretty darn good. In a very tough situation, he stood strong and gave his team a chance to get into this game. Despite going down 1-0 on an early goal-then seemingly going down 2-0 before a successful offsides challenge-Elvis maintained his composure.

Team Latvia rewarded his strong start by tying the game up, and then holding that push until the first intermission. Elvis did give up another goal in the first, but it was ruled to be goaltender interference; taking a second team USA marker off the board.

In the second period, team USA took their game to another level, and it definitely paid off for them. They put the Latvians on spin cycle and peppered Merzlikins with shot after shot, scoring three times and blowing the game wide open.

By the end of that second frame, Elvis was noticeably tired, and with good reason. He had already faced a full game's worth of rubber. So, when the third period started, team Latvia had turned to backup Arturs Silovs to close this one out.

The game was already over by that point, but the Americans tacked on one more just for good measure, taking a 5-1 win in game one of the tournament.

Despite the lopsided loss, this was an encouraging performance by Elvis Merzlikins. The outcome was always supposed to be a team USA blowout. It was expected.

The important things to watch for with Elvis were: how would he play? And, could he hold up his composure when the going got tough?

He answered both of those questions in the best way possible. Elvis played terrific, stopping 28 of 32 shots and keeping his team alive for half of this game. When he did give up goals, he stayed calm, and got right back to work.

I said it last week, and I'll say it again: Elvis just might be back.

Zach Werenski is showing the hockey world how elite he is.

With such a strong performance, it's easy for guys to get overlooked or lost in the shuffle. That's kinda the case with Zach Werenski, who didn't get many accolades from the national media. But, if you watched the game, you saw something special.

Zach was his usual self. Calm, confident, and intelligent. Really, when he's playing his best hockey, it's just effortless. He picked up his first Olympic point on team USA's first goal, with a crafty fake to send Latvia towards their bench for a change.

Then, a dish ahead to Matthew Tkachuk, who fed brother Brady to open the scoring:

That was his only point on the night, but it wasn't the only time he stood out. Quietly, he was extremely effective for team USA. He earned the trust of the coaching staff and finished third on the team in ice time.

Overall, I thought it was a great start for both players. I'm excited to see how they play for the rest of the tournament.

Both teams are off until tomorrow, with Latvia taking on Germany at 6:10am Eastern Time; and team USA taking on Denmark at 3:10pm. We'll help you keep track of everything involving the Blue Jackets during the Olympics and the break.