Utah Mammoth @ Columbus Blue Jackets: Season 25 3/7/26

 So, I had a chance to see family I hadn't seen in years and missed the first two periods of tonight's game. I came in when the Mammoth and Blue Jackets were tied 2-2. That said, I think I saw the best period of the night! The Mammoth would score two goals early in Period 3. The first would belong to Alexander Kerfoot at 3:00, and this would become his second goal this season. Michael Carcome would add his eleventh assist on the primary, while MacKenzie Weeger would add his nineteenth on the secondary. Then, at 4:54, the Mammoth would have its largest lead of the night after Logan Cooley added his tenth goal of the season. Lawson Crouse gets his sixteenth assist this season on the primary, while Ian Cole gets his fiftieth assist this season on the secondary. Now, if you left Nationwide Arena with the Blue Jackets down 4-2 on a Saturday night after the revitalization this team has had since hiring Rick Bowness, that's your fault! At 13:38, Adam Fantilli would pick up his eighteenth goal this season after slipping the puck under Karel Vejmelka's goalie pads! Mason Marchment gets to add his seventeenth assist this season with the primary, and Kirill Marchenko gets his thirty-first assist this season with the secondary. Seconds later, at 14:08, Mason Marchment would add a goal to his assist, giving him fifteen this season! Kirill Marchenko adds his second assist in less than a minute, his thirty-second this season. In contrast, Adam Fantilli adds a secondary assist, his twenty-sixth this season, to his goal less than a minute before. And, just like that, we're tied at 4-4! 

What happens next requires a full paragraph. At 14:27, an all-out brawl would break out on the ice! When the dust settled, the penalty number was enormous. Mathieu Oliver would get TWO 10-minute game misconducts, a 5-minute fighting major, and 2 minutes for instigating a fight with Ian Cole. Why two misconducts? Well, he helped in two fights, 5th Line. Gotta love a multitasker! Ian Cole would also get 5 minutes for fighting. Alexander Karfoot would get two 5-minute majors for fighting. Damon Severson, who really showed off some surprising and impressive skills, got 5 minutes for fighting and rallied the energy of Nationwide Arena as he skated to the box! That was great. Charlie Coyle would get 2 minutes for hooking. Kevin Stenlund would get 2 minutes for roughing. And, folks, that's how you get 48 minutes worth of penalty time in about 1 minute on ice! Even with all the penalties, no further goals would be scored, and this game would go to overtime. Personally, given I was wondering if I should even write a blog forty minutes ago, I'll take the point after the Boston Bruins won today, keeping their 3-point lead. 

Unfortunately, after a good shot attempt from Adam Fantilli didn't go in, one from Logan Cooley did. This would give him his seventeenth goal of the season, and his Mammoth the second point tonight. Clayton Keller adds his forty-fourth assist this season with the primary, and J Marino his twenty-sixth assist this season with the secondary. So, although thrilling and a great comeback, it's left incomplete with an overtime 5-4 loss. The good news is that we still keep pace with the Boston Bruins as they sit just 2 points ahead of us in the second wildcard spot. We're still within a few points of the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders, too. If anything, be impressed that this team never led tonight but fought like hell to get two points. One is better than none in the end. 

(This is where my phone died, and I had to wait for it to charge enough to restart. Joy, oh joy.)

The Third Star of the Game, with a goal and assist in the third period, is Adam Fantilli.  

The Second Star of the Game, with a goal and an assist, is Mason Marchment. 

The First Star of the Game, with two goals, including the overtime winner, was Logan Cooley. 

Our next game will be the rescheduled game from January, when we had to dig out from 12+ inches of snow! The L.A. Kings will be in two for a puck drop at 4:00 p.m. I work till 5, but my recap will have as much of the game in it as possible. The Mammoth gets our three-game win streak, but the point streak lives on to four games. On to the next two points up for grabs!

Go CBJ! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is There a Team Altering Trade Forming in Columbus? 3/3/2026

I'll start out by saying what I normally do the first week of March every season: Unless under special circumstances, I only allow myself to speculate one week a year, and that is NHL Trade Deadline Week.  I could be wrong, and I only have information avalible to the public. I am not an insider, and I've never claimed to be. That said, something has happened tonight that gives me a gut feeling our General Manager, Don Waddell, could be up to something. What I am about to lay out is either a coincidence or a fact, and only time will tell. Here are my thoughts. Let me make this very clear: I have multiple reasons to love each of our players. So, what I'm about to say comes from a business standpoint only. Kent Johnson had been a healthy scratch for the last two games. He's a young player with decent numbers, which could be an asset to any of the other 31 NHL teams. I firmly believed that he'd be leaving us, and, if he did, I would of course wish him nothing but the be...
Read more

If I Were Don Waddell, This is What I'd Do Ahead of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline

So, a few days ago, I wrote a blog post that I hoped wouldn't hold up. I think my hopes have been realized. In that post, I centered on how our captain, Boone Jenner, had been listed as out against the Nashville Predators under 'maintenance'. I got an uneasy feeling this could result in a trade due to the timing and the reason he wouldn't play. Tonight, he not only played against the Florida Panthers but also had the game-winning goal. So, although anything can still happen, I feel less anxious about Boone leading us tomorrow before the NHL Trade Deadline at 3:00 p.m. So, with that said, what would I do if I were Don Waddell?  Nothing.  You read that right, 5th Line, I wouldn't touch this team. I say this for two main reasons. First, our best player and defenseman, Zach Werenski, has been out ill for the last three games. This team has rallied without him to win once in overtime and twice in regulation in those three games. Further, the first game they won without h...
Read more

Ottawa Senators @ Columbus Blue Jackets: 2024-25 NHL Season Game 76

A few special moments before we begin the recap tonight. First, congratulations to Meredith Gaudreau, her children, and the extended Gaudreau family on the birth of Carter Michael Gaudreau. I sigh in relief, knowing that he is here and both mom and baby are doing well. I love seeing the photos of him with his big sister, Noa, and brother, Johnny Jr. In addition, the fact Carter was the same size and weight as his dad when born could move you to tears, it has me.  Another big moment tonight as the puck dropped; congratulations to Erik Gudbranson on game 800 of his NHL Career! He would have a point tonight, too, but I'm getting way ahead of myself!  Yes, the cannon still works at Nationwide Arena, and it got a workout tonight! After being shut out at home and on the road, back-to-back, you can only go up, and the Blue Jackets rose to the occasion out of necessity tonight. Dimitri Voronkov would add goal twenty-one to his season, giving the Blue Jackets their first goal in three ...
Read more