Kirill Marchenko(26) and Adam Fantilli(22) scored the goals for the Blue Jackets, while Jet Greaves stopped 26 of 30 Hurricanes in a 5-2 loss on Tuesday night.
This game was ugly at times. When the Canes went up 2-0 with just under five minutes left in the 1st period, fans could tell they were in for a long night.
Adam Fantilli would tie the game 2:07 into the third after scratching and clawing their way back into the game. But when Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrei Svechnikov scored a little over a minute apart later in the third to make it a 4-2 game, that was it; Carolina had flexed their muscles one last time.
Isac Lundestrom was lost in this game due to an unspecified injury. Coach Bowness said after the game that he would be re-evaluated tomorrow and that they would go from there. The injuries are starting to mount for the CBJ. They've lost one player in each of the last four games. Damon Severson and Mathieu Olivier are huge losses and could be felt in the game against Carolina.
The bad news is that the CBJ lost. The good news is that every team below them lost, so that means the Jackets will wake up on Wednesday morning still clinging to a playoff spot.
Quotes
- Rick Bowness - "It didn't go our way tonight, and 5-on-5, we love our play. Clearly, penalty killing is an issue. We have to clean that up. It's cost us the last couple games, but 5-on-5, we're thrilled with the way we're playing."
- Zach Werenski - "I actually think we've played better than our record has shown the last week, so it's just taking the positives and taking what we've done well and building on it and learning from the mistakes we've made."
- Adam Fantilli - "I thought we played our hearts out. We got to our game right away. We were physical, we competed with them the whole night. Obviously, it sucks, but we're gonna have to regroup and go get a win in Raleigh."
- Kirill Marchenko - "We're not happy with this result because we lose the game, and they scored five. We need to score five. Or six. Seven. Eight."
Team Notes Per CBJ PR
- The win by Carolina snapped an eight-game winning streak by the home team in the series. It also marked just the third time in the last 15 games dating back to Feb. 25, 2022, that the visiting team earned the victory.
- The Jackets skated in front of their fourth-straight and 13th sellout crowd of the season tonight.
Final Stats
CBJ APPPlayer Stats & Notes
- Kirill Marchenko scored his 26th goal and recorded his 37th assist. He also had 5 shots. He recorded his second-straight multi-point performance (1-3-4) and the 12th of the season, tying for the second-most on the team in 2025-26. He has now collected points in seven of his past eight matchups against Carolina (6-4-10) as well as 10-4-14 in 13 career contests against the club.
- Adam Fantilli scored his 22nd goal of the season, had 5 shots, and went 11/20 on his faceoffs. He set a new single season career-high in points, surpassing the 31-23-54 in 82 games played last season.
- Mason Marchment collected two assists on the night. The 0-2-2 game marks his seventh multi-point outing as a Blue Jacket in his 33 games since joining the club (14-13-27). He has collected 4-6-10 in his 14 career matchups against the Hurricanes, with points in three-straight games (2-3-5).
- Zach Werenski picked up his 57th assist of the season. He is two assists two shy of tying his single season high as well as the franchise record (Panarin) set last season with 23-59-82 in 82 games played. His helper also extended his home point streak against the Hurricanes to seven-straight games (3-7-10) and 6-12-18 in 34 career contests overall.
Team Stats
- The Jackets went 0/3
- The Columbus PK gave up three goals on five Canes power plays.
- Columbus won 39.3% of the faceoffs - 24/61
- The Blue Jackets had 23 hits and 15 blocks.
Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets are in Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
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