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Adam Fantilli was the catalyst of the Columbus Blue Jackets' seventh win in their last 10 games on Wednesday night, recording his first career hat trick in a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
It came at just the perfect time for the 20-year-old, who told NHL.com's Dave McCarthy that he had close to 70 family and friends in attendance for the triumph.
“That means a lot,” Fantilli said afterwards. “It means the world to be able to do that in front of my friends and family, everybody made the trip out. I’m super grateful they all came out and I was able to pull one off there. I could hear them when my name was announced, I was really lucky, they had some great seats so I was able to make eye contact with a few of them after the first and second period. So it was pretty special to be able see their faces.”
Fantilli was terrific in front of a quiet Toronto crowd; the Nobleton, Ontario native opened the scoring late in the first period while shorthanded. He made it 3-0 late in the second stanza before completing the hat trick into an empty net in the third.
With that, Fantilli is up to 14 goals and 26 points in 48 games — good for sixth in team scoring. Along with the sophomore, rookie Luca Del Bel Belluz also had around 50 friends and family at the game, and he managed a goal and an assist of his own.
“It’s huge,” Del Bel Belluz, who is from Woodbridge, Ontario, told McCarthy. “There was a lot more on the line with a couple guys being from the Toronto area. It was just a good team win, we all did it together from the goalie out, we were clicking on all cylinders. It was fun.”
Following the impressive road victory against a good Maple Leafs team, the Blue Jackets improve to 23-18-7 and are back into the top wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
Blue Jackets continue to surprise in 2024-25
Despite preseason expectations that had Columbus pegged for another low finish in the Metropolitan Division, Dean Evason's squad has been one of the best stories of the 2024-25 campaign.
Once 12-15-5 after a stretch of eight losses in nine games between December 3-17, the Blue Jackets have been on a tear ever since. They've won seven of nine since January 4 and are now just seven points back of the New Jersey Devils for third in the division — with two games in hand.
It's been a remarkable season in Ohio, and it's clear the roster believes it can still be occupying a playoff spot in a couple of months time. The main culprits of the surge are Zach Werenski — who is putting together a Norris Trophy caliber season — along with Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov breaking out.
But the youth revolution, led by players like Fantilli and Del Bel Belluz, has also been crucial — especially in the absence of key forward Sean Monahan. And that was on full display against the top team in the Atlantic Division on Wednesday night.
Columbus is back in action on Thursday in Carolina for the second half of a back-to-back set. Puck drops between the Blue Jackets and Hurricanes just past 7:00 p.m. ET from Lenovo Center.
