TORONTO — Adam Fantilli and Jet Greaves — two proud sons of Ontario, Canada — chatted Thursday morning before the morning skate.
They looked forward to Thursday night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs but also remembered a game last season in Scotiabank Arena. On Jan. 25, 2025, Fantilli had his first career hat trick, and his mom, Julia, was the first fan to get a hat over the glass and onto the ice.
“He said he didn’t think he could top the game here last year,” Greaves said, laughing. “I think he did a good job of that.”
He sure came close.
Fantilli had two goals and an assist, including the overtime game winner, sending the Blue Jackets to a 3-2 win over the Leafs before 18,438, a significant number of whom were there to support their relatives playing for Columbus.
For Fantilli, a native of Nobleton, Ont., it was his fifth career three-point game, his fifth career game-winning goal, and his first overtime game winner.
The game winner was scored on a terrific play by Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, who hesitated briefly before feeding Fantilli with speed at the top of the zone.
That allowed Fantilli to skate around Leafs forward Max Tomi before beating goaltender Joseph Woll over his right pad with only 39 seconds left before a shootout.
“Yeah, that was a blast,” Fantilli said. “I seem to have a lot of good luck in this building, so maybe it’s just all the friends and family wishing me well here.
“It was a great play by Z. He just kind of let me get my speed going there, make that D man hesitate for a half second, and I was able to get a step on him. It’s a perfect play by him. It was great.”
his hometown. OUR HERO! 🤩
CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/thrrGib8Xy
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 21, 2025
When did Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason know that Fantilli was hyped to play this game?
“As soon as we landed in Toronto (on Tuesday),” he said. “If we could play all of our games here, he’d probably have 50.”
Werenski finished with three assists, giving him 403 career points, moving him ahead of Cam Atkinson (402) for second on the franchise’s all-time points list. Only Rick Nash (547) has more.
Dmitri Voronkov had one goal and one assist, while Greaves finished with 27 saves, 12 coming in the first period.
“We’re not in the same spot tonight if (Jet) doesn’t play the way he did,” Fantilli said. “He’s a special player, a special human.”
After the game, Blue Jackets family and friends filled almost an entire section in the lower bowl of Scotiabank. Fantilli said he had over 150 friends and family. Center Luca Del Bel Belluz had over 100, too. Greaves and center Sean Monahan had large crews as well.
They were treated to a back-and-forth game.
The Blue Jackets weren’t very sharp in the first period, but Greaves got them to intermission with no score. But they played much better in the second.
ADAMO RINGS THE BELL! 🚨
CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/FgWuFuSDr5
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 21, 2025
At 3:17 of the second, Fantilli fired a puck through a screen from the left circle, and he appeared to beat Woll on his own. But replays showed that the puck brushed off a leg of Voronkov, who set a towering screen in front.
Fantilli even thought it was his goal, he said, until they returned to the bench.
“Ronnie showed me the puck mark on his pants,” he said.
The lead grew to 2-0 when Fantilli scored at 12:01 of the second, a laser-beam wrister from just inside the left circle.
The Leafs scored later in the second period and early in the third to tie it, but the Blue Jackets didn’t panic down the stretch as they have in recent games. They played composed, mostly, and Evason noted that they only iced the puck once in the third period.
It set the stage for overtime, the fifth time in seven games that the Blue Jackets have played beyond regulation.
Fantilli’s goal gives him eight this season, but he has six in eight games since he was elevated by Evason to play on the top line between Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko. He also has a plus-4 rating in that span.
“We have a lot of chemistry,” Fantilli said of his work with the two Russian wingers. “I like communicating with them. It’s kind of fun, just listening to them banter, and then them filling me in afterward (on what was said).
“It’s a good time. They’re great people. They’re fun to be around. We built a lot of chemistry last year, and we’re building off of it now.”