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Columbus Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli scored his 30th goal of the 2024-25 season against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night — and the moment was bigger than hockey for the 20-year-old.
“Yesterday I flew back to Toronto and buried my grandfather,” Fantilli said after the game, per NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. “His favorite team was Philly. It's going to sound like I'm joking when I say that, but I swear his favorite team was Philly. And coming back, I'm pretty sure that one was him just giving me a lucky bounce there.”
It was a special moment for Fantilli, who scored a key goal for his team at the Wells Fargo Center in downtown Pennsylvania. The youngster, along with an inspired Blue Jackets team, stayed alive for at least one more day in the Eastern Conference playoff race after a 3-0 victory.
Now with five regulation victories in a row, Columbus is just two points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the final wildcard berth in the East. Both teams have one game remaining.
If the Canadiens lose in regulation to the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre on Wednesday night, the Jackets would have the opportunity to clinch a postseason berth in the final day of the regular-season. The New York Islanders are in Ohio on Thursday night.
“We knew a lot of things had to happen for us to make the playoffs, and we're just trying to do our part, and we're doing a great job of it,” Fantilli said. “We've had great goaltending stepping up. Everybody's been playing great, so it's really good to see.”
Jet Greaves has been a huge reason for the success; the goaltender is 4-0 since being called up from the American Hockey League, and posted a shutout in Tuesday's 3-0 victory.
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“I think the guys are just playing great,” Greaves said, per Kimelman. “They're doing a great job in front of me, making my job pretty simple. I think it's been a team effort. Obviously, it's an important time of the year. These games matter a lot, but I think all the guys have been doing a great job.”
Blue Jackets playing inspired hockey down the stretch
Whether or not it will be enough to get in, Columbus is probably the easiest team in the NHL to root for right now. The cinderella season still has some juice in it yet, and it's hard not to be inspired by this roster.
Battling tragedy and more injuries than almost any other team, the Blue Jackets still haven't been eliminated with two days left. That's after they were widely expected to be Metropolitan Division bottom-feeders in 2024-25. They've also scored 261 goals, per Kimelman, which is a new franchise record. The previous high was 258, which the team set back in 2021-22.
Although the chances remain slim — especially because the Hurricanes could be resting a few top players against the Canadiens — it's been an extremely impressive campaign in Ohio regardless.
And if the Habs do lose in regulation on Wednesday, Nationwide Arena will be rocking on Thursday night for a win-and-get-in tilt against the Islanders.
