The biggest win of the season. Until the next one.
Adam Fantilli scored the lone shootout goal, and Elvis Merzlikins stopped all three shooters he faced as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the New York Islanders 4-3 on Monday to snap a six-game losing streak and win their first-ever game at UBS Arena (1-5-1).
The Islanders have points in six straight (3-0-3).
Mounting The Comeback
Did you know the Blue Jackets are one of the best teams in the league in scoring first?
They are tied for seventh in the NHL when scoring first with 38 goals. But before Monday, their last lead in a game was the last time they won, which was Mar. 9 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
#CBJ enters tonights game not holding a lead in six games. Last was 7-3 win at MSG 3/9.
— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) March 24, 2025
Theyve also never won a game at UBS Arena. 0-5-1 all-time in the new Islanders rink.
Theyre due in both cases.
The trend continued with Pierre Engvall's first-period goal at 13:16. Adam Boqvist picked up his eighth assist, and Tony DeAngelo added his 12th to extend a three-game point streak (zero goals, four assists).
Kyle Palmieri added his 22nd goal at 18:41 to extend the Islanders' 2-0 lead. Bo Horvat (25) and Ryan Pulock (15) assisted on the play. Horvat's on a four-game point streak (three goals, two assists).
Columbus has allowed the first goal in seven straight games.
Something had to change, and though it had been a tough go of late, the Blue Jackets have been in just about every game they've played this season.
If they had that push in them, it was needed on Monday.
Adam Fantilli (22) scored at 5:31 of the second period to make it a 2-1 game. Dante Fabbro picked up assist No. 12, and Merzlikins picked up his first point of the year.
Here's Fantilli's 22nd of the season and one of the nastier shots of his young career. Down 2-0, the #CBJ really needed it.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) March 25, 2025
Elvis Merzlikins gets the secondary assist for his first point since Feb. 28, 2023. pic.twitter.com/qZWBS8le9f
Adam Fantilli scored a second-period goal and a shootout winner to help the @BlueJacketsNHL (32-29-9, 73 points) move within two points of the Canadiens (33-27-9, 75 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the East.#NHLStats: https://t.co/vvVu3W7DoU pic.twitter.com/YMwASAhuLV
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) March 25, 2025
#CBJ goalie career scoring leaders:
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) March 25, 2025
1. Sergei Bobrovsky, 8
T-2. Elvis Merzlikins, 5
T-2. Steve Mason, 5
All assists, but one day, we'll get the elusive goalie goal.
Boone Jenner tied the score 2-2 with his second goal in as many games, his seventh short-handed goal, and the Jackets’ ninth shorty this season. Sean Monahan, back in the lineup for the first time since Jan. 7, added his 28th assist.
Boone Jenner ties the game with a shorthanded goal pic.twitter.com/JS84RRlkD5
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 25, 2025
Think Sean Monahan missed being on the ice? #CBJ pic.twitter.com/iPB6coCvOd
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) March 24, 2025
You knew it wouldn't be easy, though.
Anders Lee scored for New York with 19:13 left in the second period. The Blue Jackets lost the challenge for goaltender interference, so the Islanders went back on the power play but did not score. Mike Reilly picked up the assist, and Adam Boqvist earned his second of the game.
Jackets Get Elusive Break
The Islanders had the majority of the shot attempts in the first period, 30-15 (5v5). As the scoreboard indicates, the second period was more even as the Jackets scored twice, the Islanders once, and the 5v5 shot attempts were 16-15 for the Blue Jackets.
In the third period, Columbus had a clear shot attempt advantage of 25-10 and 29-11 in all situations and outshot the Islanders 17-4 in the third period.
Kirill Marchenko made good on the Jackets' third-period push as he tied the game 3-3 at 12:56 of the period for his team-leading 26th. The goal ended a five-game pointless drought. Ivan Provorov picked up his 23rd assist, and Monahan picked up his second of the game and 29th of the season.
This game is TIED
— NHL (@NHL) March 25, 2025
Kirill Marchenko has the equalizer late in the third! pic.twitter.com/Jv1zl5CWTR
This tweet by Jeff Svoboda before Monday's game perfectly encapsulates Monahan's impact.
How nice is it to have Sean Monahan back in the #CBJ lineup? So far this year, the Jackets have outscored teams 41-19 with Monahan on the ice at 5-on-5.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) March 24, 2025
CBJ power play in games Monahan has played: 23.9 percent. Without? 7.8 percent.
With seconds remaining in the frame, the Islanders thought they had taken the lead, but the officials immediately waved off the goal. After a review, the call stood, and the two teams had to settle it in extra time as neither could score in overtime.
So, things evened out with the goaltender interference calls late in the second period and then late in the third period. Head coach Dean Evason had a long chat with the officials after the second-period goal by the Islanders, in which they challenged for goaltender interference, so whether it was a makeup call or whatever, the Jackets finally got a bounce to go their way.
Now, what would they do with it?
Big (Apple) Win
Elvis Merlizikins has had plenty of shootout success this season in stopping the shooters. He's only allowed one to score on him.
Fantilli's shootout shot was cool, but it doesn't happen without this 10/10, A+ save from Elvis Merzlikins in overtime. #CBJ get two points because of this:pic.twitter.com/eXMioxjeI5
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) March 25, 2025
None of those goals happened in this game.
Anthony Duclair completely flubbed his first attempt without even getting a shot off, and Fantilli scored the only shootout goal that was needed as the Blue Jackets completed the comeback to win 4-3 and pick up two massive points.
Two points out of a playoff spot, the Blue Jackets trail the Islanders and Rangers by one point in the standings. Columbus improved to 3-7-1 in March and 2-0 in the state of New York this month.
Columbus is 5-1 in the shootout this season, while the Islanders fall to 2-2. Merzlikins is 4-0 in the shootout this season.
The Islanders are the best face-off team in the league (54.6%), but the Blue Jackets were the better team in this area, winning 33-of-60 (55.0%).
Zach Werenski played a career-high 33:44, the highest time-on-ice total for any player this season. Werenski passed Fedor Tyutin for the second-most games played by a Blue Jackets defenseman on Friday night and now has 555 career games under his belt. David Savard (597) has the record.
The 33:44 of ice time in also an @NHL best in 2024-25, surpassing the 33:06 of ice time recorded by St. Louis defenseman Ryan Suter on Nov. 14, 2024 at Buffalo. https://t.co/sQiReGwXuP
— CBJ Public Relations (@BlueJacketsPR) March 25, 2025
Erik Gudbranson returned to the lineup after missing the previous 67 games with a shoulder injury. Merzlikins made 30 saves on 33 shots. Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves on 30 shots.
Big Weekend
Columbus is off until Friday when they return home to face the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, Mar. 28 at 7 p.m. ET. Then they face the Ottawa Senators at Canadien Tire Centre on Saturday, Mar. 29 at 7 p.m. ET.
