CBJ 5, TOR 1: Fantilli, Merzlikins Have Huge Nights As Blue Jackets Win Big Over Maple Leafs

By Ed Francis on January 22, 2025 at 10:29 pm
Adam Fantilli had a hat trick as part of a career night and Elvis Merzlikins was just about perfect between the pipes as the Columbus Blue Jackets won big in Toronto, defeating the Maple Leafs 5-1.
© Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
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  1 2 3 F
CBJ 1 2 2 5
TOR 0 0 1 1

CBJ GOALS: 
Fantilli (SH) (P1, 15:40)
van Riemsdyk (P2, 13:40)
Fantilli (2) (P2, 15:21)
Del Bel Belluz (P3, 5:56)
Fantilli (EN) (3) P3, 12:02)
 

The boys are back.

Adam Fantilli scored his first career hat trick, Luca Del Bel Belluz had another multi-point game in his early NHL career, and Elvis Merzlikins was brilliant in net for the Columbus Blue Jackets as they soundly defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1.

The victory ended a brief two-game skid from the Blue Jackets, who had previously won six straight.

The two points put Columbus back into the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, after the club was on the outside looking in after picking up just one of four possible points in New York against the Rangers and Islanders.

For Fantilli and Del Bel Belluz, the big games came in front of plenty of friends and family. Both are natives of the Toronto area.

"(The win) means a lot," said Fantilli. "We dropped the first two on this road trip ... We knew tonight was going to be a big one, and it ended up being really great for us."

Here's how the Blue Jackets rebounded in a big way Wednesday night:

1st Period:

(15:40 — CBJ SH Goal): Fantilli's career night begins with a short-handed goal late in the first period. Towards the end of the Maple Leafs power play, Ivan Provorov gets the puck in the Blue Jackets own zone and Fantilli immediately heads down the ice, seeing an opportunity. Provorov finds him near center-ice and Fantilli takes advantage of a 1-on-1, firing from near the left face-off dot and ripping it past Toronto goalie Dennis Hildeby to put the Blue Jackets in front, 1-0.

2nd Period

(13:40 — CBJ Goal): Damon Severson does not get a point on this play but was the catalyst behind it. The sequence starts with a good heads up play from Sevo: he first tries to find Kent Johnson for a would-be tip-in opportunity. The puck gets by him, but Severson goes behind Hildeby and collects the puck before the Maple Leafs can get to it. He gets it back to Johnson, who dishes it off to Del Bel Belluz. The rookie finds James van Riemsdyk near the net and JVR cashes in for his 9th goal of the season, doubling the Columbus lead to 2-0.

(15:21 — CBJ Goal): Fantilli gets his second of the night but it's also the second of the night that comes with a complete team effort. It all starts with hustle from Columbus' end, particularly Dmitri Voronkov. He keeps the puck in the Toronto zone and gets it to Fantilli, whose initial shot was blocked. He makes a good second-effort to get the puck back and chops it towards Voronkov, who's at the front of the net. He can't get it home, but Hildeby is unable to collect the puck before Fantilli, now joining Voronkov at the doorstep, is able to punch it home and extend the Blue Jackets lead to 3-0,

3rd Period

(5:56 — CBJ Goal): After assisting on the van Riemsdyk goal with a beautiful pass, Del Bel Belluz finds the back of the net in his first game in his hometown — and it all starts with excellent forechecking and hustle from LDBB. He beats the crowd to the end of the ice and then skates back in front of Hildeby just in time for an innocuous bounce to go right to him on the doorstep, easily putting it past the Toronto goalie to make it 4-0 Columbus and start sending the Toronto faithful for the exits. 

(9:22 — TOR Goal): Auston Matthews scores to end Merzlikins' shutout bid and cut the Columbus lead to 4-1. Elvis, who was named the second Star of the Night, finished with 28 saves on 29 shots. He was cool, calm, and collected throughout.

(12:02 — CBJ EN Goal): Fantilli completes the hat trick in with an empty-net goal with all kinds of time remaining in the game. With the game in a 4-on-4 situation, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube pulls Hildeby with over eight minutes left in the game. The gamble does not pay off, with Kirill Marchenko dishing off to Fantilli in a 2-on-1 to ensure Toronto native completes the hat trick in front of about 50 friends and family members.

CBJ GAME STATS TOR
19 SHOTS 29
39% FACEOFFS 61%
0/0 POWER PLAY 0/3
3/3 PENALTY KILL 0/0
11 HITS 18
15 GIVEAWAYS 14
6 TAKEAWAYS 4
25 BLOCKED SHOTS 11
ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS
3.49 EXPECTED GOALS 3.60
40 SHOT ATTEMPTS 75
22 SCORING CHANCES 39
14 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 15
Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com

Stat Chat:

  • This was just the fourth time this season the Blue Jackets failed to register 20 shots on goal for the game. They were 0-3-0 in the other three and were shut out twice.
     
  • For just the second time this season, Columbus did not get a power play attempt. They're now 2-0 when not given a man-advantage.
     
  • The top line of Voronkov, Fantilli, and Marchenko skated 12:30 together in 5-on-5 hockey and allowed just six shot attempts in that time, none of which registered as a shot on goal. They were elite defensively, especially considering the opponent.
     

Up Next:

The Blue Jackets are off to Carolina immediately for a Thursday night battle against the Hurricanes. The four-game road trip concludes with a 7 p.m. puck-drop.

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