Columbus Blue Jackets can't finish what they started in OT loss to Utah
· Yahoo Sports
The only thing missing was the big finish.
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That would've capped a memorable night March 7 at sold-out Nationwide Arena, but perfect endings haven't happened often at the building. Thus, it wasn’t too surprising when the roar of 18,668 Blue Jackets fans gave way to pained silence after Logan Cooley's winning goal 2:08 into 3-on-3 overtime lifted the Utah Mammoth to a 5-4 victory.
It was deflating, but also fitting for Conor Garland's Jackets debut. In fact, it was Garland and defenseman Ivan Provorov getting crossed up in their assignments that led to Cooley's goal and taunting celebration.
Adam Fantilli and Mason Marchment scored goals 30 seconds apart to erase a 4-2 deficit with 5:52 left in the third period. Charlie Coyle's line was next over the boards.
The Jackets sent the arena’s decibel level skyrocketing by engaging in a melee that began with Coyle’s impassioned response to a questionable hooking penalty. Despite Utah’s Nick DeSimone clutching Coyle's stick and pulling it from his grip, the Blue Jackets center drew the only penalty.
Coyle threw his arms in the air, began carping at referee Michael Markovic and pushed away Mammoth forward Alex Kerfoot, who immediately flopped onto the ice. That caused former Blue Jackets center Kevin Stenlund to respond by giving Coyle a shove, which caught Matthieu Olivier's attention.
Olivier, the NHL’s top enforcer, tried to go after Kerfoot before another former Blue Jacket, Ian Cole, got in his way. Those two squared off, twice, and Olivier was tossed from the game after he racked up 27 minutes in penalties.
Damon Severson dropped his gloves to fight Kerfoot and eventually skated to the penalty box, pumping both arms. It was madness, pure and simple, as a packed house worked itself into a loud crescendo.
“The whole night was electric,” Olivier said. “We went down 4-2 and came back into it, and when we made it 4-4, that was really, really loud. I didn’t have time to pay attention to it [while fighting], but it was fun to get the fans into it, that’s for sure.”
As brutish as bare-knuckle fights are in pro hockey, nothing quite matches them for the ability to turn a large crowd of mostly adults into a horde of overgrown children.
They scream at players and officials, smack the glass windows surrounding the rink and delight in watching the chaos. That’s what it was like in those final five minutes of regulation, as the Jackets filled the barn full of hopeful energy.
Cooley deflated it in OT and then mocked the crowd with a shushing gesture. It was a humbling way to finish a breathtaking game. The good news is the Blue Jackets skated off with a point, which mitigated the sting, but they sure could’ve used a fourth straight win.
“The fans were fantastic tonight,” Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness said. “Our crowd is loud. It’s been like that for 25 years that I’ve been coming in here, so I just needed … we needed to hear that [goal] cannon one more time.”
Columbus Blue Jackets playoff picture
The Blue Jackets are now at 73 points, just two shy of the Boston Bruins for the second of two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals in regulation March 7 before the Jackets hosted the Mammoth.
Gaining a point in overtime also kept the Blue Jackets within three points of the Pittsburgh Penguins for third in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins lost in OT to the Philadelphia Flyers, allowing the New York Islanders to climb past them into the Metro's second spot with a road shootout win against the San Jose Sharks.
What's left for the Columbus Blue Jackets?
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978Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at [email protected] and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets fall to Mammoth despite third period comeback