Columbus' fifth straight win kept its postseason hopes intact, and showed yet again what a special team this is
After CBJ wins, we’ll give three takeaways about what stood out or what we’ll remember from the Blue Jackets victory.
BLUE JACKETS 3, FLYERS 0
1. The Blue Jackets are getting closer to authoring one of the most incredible stories we’ve seen in the NHL.
Columbus has been through so much this season – a horrible tragedy before the season started, injuries to multiple top players, and a cold streak down the stretch that threatened to undo all their hard work – but along the way it’s become clear this is a special group.
Whether the Blue Jackets’ late-season push to make the playoffs is achieved remains to be seen, but you have to tip your cap to what this team is about. It’s an easy group to root for, with players talking all season about the tight-knit nature of the locker room and their belief in one another.
Which might explain why the Blue Jackets have been able to push the season to game 82. They’ve needed to win each of their last five games to keep their postseason hopes alive, and they’ve done just that. They still need two results to go their way – Carolina must beat Montreal in regulation on Wednesday night and the Jackets have to down the Islanders in regulation in the home finale Thursday – but the Blue Jackets have defied the odds to get to this point.
No team in NHL history has ever erased a five-point deficit in its final three games to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but what once seemed impossible now at least is plausible.
“It’s coming right down to the wire, so yeah, ever since I got here, there’s never been any doubt,” said Dante Fabbro, who scored the opening goal against the Flyers. “There’s been nothing but belief and resilience, and it’s just been a lot of fun to be a part of. It’s an unbelievable culture, and everyone wants to win. There’s no selfishness whatsoever. It’s about winning, and that’s the best part.”
Jet Greaves made 29 saves in Philadelphia while earning his second shutout in three games, while Adam Fantilli reached 30 goals on the season with his third-period tally that shut the door. Kent Johnson also scored, while Sean Monahan and Zach Werenski posted two points apiece, with Werenski becoming just the second CBJ player to notch 80 points in a season.
Those were the highlights, but the reality is this was another team effort where everyone did their part. Columbus has outscored its last five opponents by a 22-5 margin, and you don’t do that without everyone playing as a team, as head coach Dean Evason noted postgame.
“I think the team is feeding off each other,” Evason said. “I think the team is saying, doing the right thing. It’s not an individual game, it’s a team game, and everybody is pulling in the same direction. They’re all on the same page, and we’ve been fortunate to get some wins here. We need to get one more.”
2. Fantilli’s milestone marker carried a much more personal meaning.
The 20-year-old center wasn’t with the team Monday or for Tuesday’s morning skate, having returned home to Canada for his grandfather’s funeral. He returned to Philadelphia before the game and got the clinching goal in the third period when Kirill Marchenko’s pass kicked off his leg and deflected past goalie Samuel Ersson.
CBJ@PHI: Fantilli scores goal against Samuel Ersson
It might have looked like a bit of luck, but to Fantilli, more was at play.
“Yesterday, I flew back to Toronto and I buried my grandfather,” he said postgame. “His favorite team was Philly. That’s going to sound like I’m joking when I say that, but I swear his favorite team was Philly. Coming back, I’m pretty sure that one was him, just giving me a lucky bounce there.”
The goal made him just the ninth player in team history to reach 30 in a season, as well as the second youngest to do so (Rick Nash was 19 when he tied for the NHL lead with 41 in 2003-04). He and teammate Kirill Marchenko (31 goals) are just the second group of CBJ teammates with 30 tallies in the same season, joining Brandon Saad (31) and Boone Jenner (30) in 2015-16.
To get there, Fantilli has been on an absolute heater down the stretch, following up his consecutive two-goal games over the weekend vs. the Caps with his goal against the Flyers. That gives him 23 goals in his last 42 games, good for a tie for eighth in the NHL in that span.
The Blue Jackets believed they had a franchise cornerstone when they selected the University of Michigan product third overall in the 2023 draft. More and more, it’s looking like they were right on the money.
3. Greaves’ unlikely story just continues to get better.
The Blue Jackets have known for some time that Greaves has the makings of an NHL goalie. He’s been a standout in Cleveland over the past four seasons, backstopping the Monsters to within one game of the Calder Cup Final a season ago. He’s impressed in each of his NHL stints the past three seasons, and the 24-year-old’s calm nature in net and affable personality have made him a favorite of both teammates and fans alike.
But who could have predicted what he’s been able to do over the past six days? Recalled on Thursday after an injury to Elvis Merzlikins, Greaves has gone into the net and taken the league by storm, winning all four starts, giving up just three goals in that span and posting his first two NHL shutouts.
He’s allowed just one goal in his last three games, and the streak is even more impressive when you consider he blanked Buffalo for the last two periods Thursday as well. In the last 11 periods, Greaves has faced 115 shots on goal and stopped 114 of them, a save percentage of .991 that borders on the absurd.
“He might be the hottest guy in the NHL right now,” Fantilli said. “He has one goal against in the last three games, and it’s (Alex Ovechkin). That’s pretty good. There’s not much else you can say.”
For his part, Greaves has continued to have the same mind-set that has allowed him to get to this point. He’s developed a reputation as one of the hardest and most diligent workers on any team he’s on, and he’s often pointed to his disciplined mental outlook that’s all about living in the moment and not getting too high or too low as his success has built the past two seasons.
He’s not the kind of person to let this moment go to his head, but Greaves did admit he is enjoying the ride – though mostly because of what it’s doing for the team.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Greaves said. “It’s always great to be playing important games this time of the year, and I think we’re enjoying that, just enjoying every day. … It’s pretty cool. Obviously growing up, you always think about playing those games at the important time of the year and hopefully winning them. Just try to keep that going.”
