SALT LAKE CITY — Nothing came easy for the Columbus Blue Jackets on their last, long road trip of the season. Not scoring, not defending … not even their much-needed overtime goal on Sunday in Delta Center.
Dmitri Voronkov’s redirection of a Zach Werenski pass sailed into the Utah Mammoth’s net at 1:01 of OT, snapping the Blue Jackets’ four-game losing streak and helping them salvage their only two points of this four-game roadie.
“We definitely needed that,” said Blue Jackets’ center Charlie Coyle. “End of a road trip and we had nothing to show for yet. So that’s a huge two points, and it gets us feeling a little better heading home.”
The Blue Jackets, playing the second half of a back-to-back, played the final 58 minutes with only five defensemen after Denton Mateychuk was hit hard by Utah’s Branden Tanev and appeared to strike his head against the glass.
That put heavy minutes on the five healthy blue-liners and required the Blue Jackets’ forwards to play responsibly with the puck in a way that would allow those defensemen to play with a minimal amount of physical contact, which only saps more energy.
The Blue Jackets were fried after playing four games in six days with lengthy travel in between, but Voronkov’s goal — scored on a 4-on-3 power play — sent a burst of excitement into a dressing room.
“It’s only a step for us, but it was important for us to get a win and come home from this road trip on a positive note, bring some positive momentum back home with us,” said goaltender Jet Greaves, who made 12 of his 25 saves in the third period.
VORO CALLED GAME💥
CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/M3CXoebRUD
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 12, 2026
The Blue Jackets, up a skater after Utah’s Daniil But tripped Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli with a leg-on-leg hit in the neutral zone.
About 50 seconds into overtime, Utah appeared to have possession with a chance to clear, but Werenski, Fantilli, Marchenko and Voronkov hounded the puck, using any and all means to keep it in the zone.
Werenski swatted the puck with his glove to knock it away from two Utah players low in the zone, then Fantilli redirected it down and toward the wall with his stick. Marchenko made a nifty play at the blue line to make a tight turn with the puck and sent it over to Werenski above the right circle.
As Voronkov got a step on Utah’s Ian Cole toward the net, Werenski sent him a pass that Voronkov ramped up and past Vitek Vanacek, who promptly smashed his stick against one of his posts.
It turns out, however, that the goal was not a sure thing.
While the Blue Jackets celebrated and both clubs headed off to their rooms, the NHL initiated a replay of the goal. The Blue Jackets thought they were checking to see if Fantilli had used a highstick to play the puck, but the league said it was reviewing Werenski’s play to determine if he had used an illegal hand pass.
The replays revealed that Utah’s Mikhail Sergechev played the puck, thus negating Werenski’s hand pass, before Voronkov scored.
“We talked about it this morning and last night … just about hopefully getting rewarded for doing the right things and playing the right way,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “Although we only scored two goals (in regulation), we had tons of opportunities.
“I just liked how they stuck together and competed their asses off, and we got rewarded.”
The Blue Jackets started the road trip with losses in San Jose, Vegas and Colorado before flying to Utah. The last time they went pointless on a road trip of four games or longer was late in the 2023-24 season.
COYLE SLAMS IT HOME 💥
CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/jJere5BoYc
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 12, 2026
They took a 1-0 lead on a goal by fourth-line winger Mikael Pyyhtiä only 2:47 into the game, but by the early part of the second period it was gone. Utah got a late first-period goal from Jack McBain and a goal from Mikhael Sergachev only 1:01 into the second for a 2-1 lead.
The Blue Jackets’ power play has been the butt of many jokes through the years, but it saved their bacon with two goals on Sunday. In addition to Voronkov’s OT goal, Coyle swept home a power play goal at 18:31 of the second period to tie the score at 2.
“We held on to some pucks,” Evason said. “We won a lot of puck battles. You know, we didn’t get frustrated with it, and we came up with loose pucks to give us those second and third chances.”
The Blue Jackets play seven of their next eight games in Nationwide Arena. The exception is a road game in nearby Pittsburgh next Saturday.
Even with Sunday’s win, the Blue Jackets are last in the Eastern Conference. This upcoming string of home games might just be their best chance to crawl back into contention, and the players have talked about making that happen before the league pauses for a three-week Olympic break in February.