Fantilli's OT Slapper Sends Columbus Past Vegas, 2-1

Adam Fantilli ended it 59 seconds into overtime with a slap shot, giving Columbus a 2-1 win over Vegas on October 24. The Blue Jackets needed every one of Cam Talbot's 26 saves to get there.

Columbus drew first blood at 11:51 of the first period when Denton Mateychuk converted a backhand — his second goal of the season — off assists from Kent Johnson and Valeri Nichushkin. That goal shifted the score margin from even to 1-0 in Columbus's favor, and it looks like it set the tone for a night that belonged to the Blue Jackets' structure and Talbot's composure. Vegas answered quickly, though. Tomas Hertl — already at five goals on the young season — tied it at 17:13 of the first with a snap shot, assisted by Braeden Bowman and Trevor Connelly. Just like that, a 1-0 game was knotted heading into the second, and the story of the night appeared to shift toward a Vegas team that had found its footing.

It didn't stay that way. Through the second and third periods, Talbot was the difference. He finished with 26 saves on 27 shots — a performance that appears to have been the backbone of this win. Carter Hart was solid in his own right, stopping 18 of 20 shots for Vegas, but Columbus generated just enough to make it matter. The Blue Jackets held Vegas to a single goal despite the Golden Knights pressing to reclaim the lead, and that stinginess is what sent this one to overtime.

Then Fantilli closed it. At 0:59 of the fourth period — overtime — he ripped a slap shot for his third goal of the season, assisted by Charlie Coyle and Kent Johnson. Johnson, for his part, finished with two assists on the night, quietly orchestrating both Columbus goals. The win belongs to a full team effort, but Johnson's fingerprints are all over it, and Fantilli's finish was the kind of decisive moment that looks like it could define Columbus's early-season identity: young, opportunistic, and capable of winning tight games when the goaltending holds. Vegas, meanwhile, will want to look at a 20-shot output — Carter Hart can't be asked to steal games the offense doesn't support.