UTH 5, CBJ 4 (OT): Blue Jackets Rally From Two Down In Wild Third Period, Come Up Short In Overtime

By Ed Francis on March 7, 2026 at 10:31 pm
The Columbus Blue Jackets came back from down two in a chaotic third period, but saw their three-game win streak come to an end Saturday night with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth.
© Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
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  1 2 3 OT F
CBJ 1 1 2 0 4
UTH 1 1 2 1 5

CBJ GOALS: 
Damon Severson (1st, 19:25)
Mathieu Olivier (2nd, 16:03)
Adam Fantilli (3rd, 13:38)
Mason Marchment (3rd, 14:08)

A good point in a chaotic game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets three-game winning streak came to an end, but the point streak continued in what was a thrilling, 5-4 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Saturday night.

Utah took a 1-0 lead midway through the first in an opening frame that saw Columbus play sloppy in their own end. The Blue Jackets tied the game with a goal from Damon Severson in the final minute of the period.

The Mammoth went up 2-1 at the 12:12 mark of the second period, but the Blue Jackets again responded, this time with Mathieu Olivier scoring less than four minutes later to tie the game at 2-2.

It was the fourth goal in the last four games for Olivier and his 8th in the last 11.

Utah would go up for a third time with a pair of goals less than two minutes apart in the opening minutes of the third.

Then, things got unhinged.

Adam Fantilli and Mason Marchment scored 30 seconds apart with less than seven minutes left in regulation to tie the game at 4-4. Both were highlight-reel goals that brought the crowd to their collective feet.

Just seconds later, Olivier and Severson simultaneously dropped the gloves. Olivier received a game misconduct for being the instigator, while Severson was pumping up the crowd as he headed to the box to serve his fighting major. 

The Blue Jackets were nearly able to get the win in regulation, with Fantilli being denied by Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka in the closing minutes.

"To be honest it shouldn't have went to overtime," Fantilli said after the game. "I should have scored that and the game's over, and I'm not putting Elvis (Merzlikins) in that situation, I'm not putting our guys in that situation."

In overtime, Logan Cooley would get his second goal of the game to give the Mammoth the 5-4 win.

Merzlikins finished with 18 saves on 23 shots.

Forward Conor Garland registered one shot on goal and had three hits in his Blue Jackets debut, playing 16:40. He had a would-be assist taken off the board at 7:55 of the second period when a goal by Kent Johnson was erased on a successful Utah challenge for offsides.

When asked if he considered the game a good result or a bad result, head coach Rick Bowness had mixed feelings.

"It's a good result because we fought back after being down two in the third period," Bowness said. "The bad result is that we were down two in the third period, so it's a little bit of both, but I give the guys a lot of credit."

"There's a lot of fight, there's a lot of heart in that room, and a lot of belief that we're a good hockey team and that we can come back when we're down like that," added Bowness.

The Blue Jackets are now 3-1-2 since the Olympic break, with points in five straight games.

Here's how the Blue Jackets were able to salvage a point in front of an over-capacity Nationwide Arena crowd:

1st Period:

(7:25 — UTH Goal): Michael Carcone fires a wrister from the faceoff dot to give the Mammoth a 1-0 lead after defenseman Denton Mateychuk gets caught behind the play. He can't recover in time, and former Blue Jacket Kevin Stenlund finds Carcone as the pair enter the zone for the goal.

(19:25 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets tie it late in the period after Severson scores following Utah having a bit of trouble clearing a Columbus dump. Mathieu Olivier and Charlie Coyle work together to get the puck back, with Coyle using a backhand pass to get it to the high slot. Severson fires it and it beats Vejmelka, who was perfectly screened by Cole Sillinger on the play.

(12:12 — UTH Goal): This play is onsides by the smallest of margins, but it gives Utah a 2-1 lead. Nick DeSimone makes an excellent stretch pass to give Dylan Guenther and Clayton Keller a 2-on-0 rush. Guenther flips it over to Keller, who throws it back to Guenther in the low slot for the easy goal to put Utah in front for the second time.

(16:03 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets third line strikes again; this time it's Olivier staying hot with his 12th of the season to tie the game at 2-2. Severson shoots from a distance, it deflects off Coyle, and Vejmelka can't secure the puck. That leads to a scrum in front of the net, with Olivier finding the puck before Utah can to tie the game.

(3:00 — UTH Goal): Kerfoot's goal is his first since Dec. 21 and is the 100th of his career. He throws it at the net from the circle and it gets past Merzlikins stick-side to put the Mammoth ahead for the third time in the game. MacKenzie Weegar, making his Mammoth debut after being traded at the deadline by the Calgary Flames, gets an assist on the play for his first point with Utah.

(4:54 — UTH Goal): The Mammoth go up 4-2 on a wicked move from Cooley on a breakaway. He's sprung by Lawson Crouse and goes up top to beat Merzlikins with a backhand shot for his 16th goal of the season.

(13:38 — CBJ Goal): Fantilli with an incredible goal to bring the Blue Jackets back to within one. Kirill Marchenko skates the length of the ice and enters the zone, then plays the puck off the wall to Marchment, who feeds Fantilli. After a pair of quick moves from Fantilli, he slips it past Vejmelka with a backhand effort to make it 4-3.

(14:08 — CBJ Goal): Just thirty seconds after Fantilli makes it 4-3, the Blue Jackets top line strikes again to tie the game. This time it's Marchment, who also scores with his backhand following a great feed from Marchenko. He gets ahead of the Utah defense in the low slot and stick-handles his way to a 4-4 game.

Overtime:

(2:08 — UTH Goal): The Mammoth control the puck for a majority of the two-plus minutes of overtime, with Cooley's second of the night giving Utah the victory. It was a less-than-stellar effort from Columbus in extra time, with a defensive breakdown leading to a brief 2-on-1 that gave the Mammoth the 5-4 win.

UTH GAME STATS CBJ
23 SHOTS 31
51 SHOT ATTEMPTS 73
22 SCORING CHANCES 40
15 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 12
47% FACEOFF PERCENTAGE 53%
0/3 POWER PLAY 0/1
1/1 PENALTY KILL 3/3
13 HITS 25
19 GIVEAWAYS 20
7 TAKEAWAYS 5
24 BLOCKED SHOTS 11

Stat Chat:

  • Olivier and Severson both had the Gordie Howe hat trick in this one, with both players scoring a goal, picking up an assist, and dropping the gloves. It was the first time in franchise history multiple Blue Jackets' recorded the Gordie Howe. Olivier also set a career-high with 27 penalty minutes in the game.
     
  • The trio of Fantilli, Olivier, and Marchenko have now combined for 12 of Columbus' 19 goals since the Olympic break came to an end.
     
  • Zach Werenski's nine-game point streak, tied for the longest in his career, came to an end.
     
  • This was NHL game #100 for Denton Mateychuk. He has 13 goals and 24 assists (37 points) in that span.

Up Next:

The Blue Jackets wrap up a four-game homestand Monday against the Los Angeles Kings. This is the make-up game from Jan. 26 as a result of over a foot of snow in the Columbus area, and puck-drop is a unique 4:00 p.m.

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Game Preview: Conor Garland Makes His Columbus Debut And Zach Werenski Is Back In The Lineup As Blue Jackets Face Mammoth Saturday Night

Conor Garland will skate on the second line in his Columbus debut, Zach Werenski is back, and Elvis Merzlikins gets the nod Saturday night when the Blue Jackets face the Utah Mammoth.