CBJ 4, DET 3 (SO): Fantilli, Werenski, Greaves Keep Blue Jackets Season Alive With Dramatic Comeback Over Red Wings

By Ed Francis on April 7, 2026 at 10:37 pm
The game — and season — looked to be over. Enter Adam Fantilli, whose goal with 17 seconds left in regulation propelled the Columbus Blue Jackets to a chaotic 4-3 comeback win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.
© Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
2 Comments
  1 2 3 OT/SO F
CBJ 1 1 1 0 (GxGxG) 4
DET 1 1 1 0 (xGGxx) 3

CBJ GOALS: 
Danton Heinen (1st, 2:06)
Zach Werenski (2nd, 10:59)
Adam Fantilli (3rd, 19:43)
Shootout Winner: Werenski (5th Round)

So that's how it feels.

Adam Fantilli tied the game with just 17 seconds left in regulation Tuesday night and Zach Werenski won it in the shootout as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in a potentially season-saving victory.

Danton Heinen started the scoring for the Blue Jackets just over two minutes in, but the Red Wings would score in the middle of the period to tie the game at 1-1. That came on a Dylan Larkin goal while Detroit was on a power play, as the Blue Jackets woes on the penalty kill continued.

The Red Wings would take a lead early in the second period on a Justin Faulk goal, the first on two on the night for the defenseman.

Werenski would tie it up just over four minutes later on a power play goal of his own to knot the game at 2-2 again. 

It would stay tied until Faulk's second of the night put Detroit ahead with just 4:46 left in what seemed to take the air out of Columbus' tires on the season.

But with just 20 seconds left in regulation, the Blue Jackets won a faceoff in the Red Wings zone. Four seconds later, it was Fantilli's rip from the right faceoff dot that beat Detroit goalie John Gibson to tie the game at 3-3.

After a feverish overtime period — in which Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves made a number of key saves — the game would go into a five-round shootout, where Werenski, a Michigan native, would beat Gibson for the second time on the evening to give the Blue Jackets their most dramatic win of the season.

"Those are the moments that you play the game for," Werenski said after the game. "It definitely ranks pretty high up there for moments in a regular season game for sure."

Werenski played a regular season career-high 33:46 in the game.

Greaves finished with 34 saves on 37 shots, while Gibson stopped 32 of 35 Columbus shots for the Red Wings.

The win, which was already nearly a must-win to begin the night, became even more important when both the Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators won their games.

RELATED CBJ Playoff Chase Tracker

The Blue Jackets are now at 90 points, and have passed the New York Islanders and Red Wings in the Eastern Conference standings. With the Flyers and Senators victories, Columbus remains two points behind both third in the Metropolitan division and two points out of the second wild card spot.

All four teams have four games left on the schedule.

"It makes it fun, it makes interesting... for us, for the fans, for people watching," Charlie Coyle said after the game.

"Hopefully not too many heart attacks out there," he added.

Here's how the Blue Jackets took two points when the season seemed lost:

1st Period:

(2:06 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets take an early 1-0 on a sequence that starts with good play along the boards by Boone Jenner after a strong forecheck. He forces the Wings to play it behind the net, which leads to a quick burst from Mason Marchment to swipe the puck away. As soon as he does, Heinen enters the slot and takes a feed from Marchment, slinging it past Gibson to put Columbus up.

(10:27 — DET Goal): The Red Wings tie it on the power play. Patrick Kane holds the puck near the right circle before dishing it to Larkin near the net. He attempts a goalmouth pass to Alex DeBrincat, but Erik Gudbranson shuts it down. Unfortunately, the puck goes right to Larkin, who quickly grabs it and goes five-hole on Greaves to make it a 1-1 game.

(6:27 — DET Goal): Faulk, a veteran defenseman, collects the pucks near center ice and bursts up the middle, splitting through the Columbus defense to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. This would be the end of the night for defenseman Jake Christiansen, one of the defenders on the play.

(10:59 — CBJ Goal): Werenski gets just his second goal since the Olympic break ends, this one coming via the power play and tying the game at 2-2. He and Mateychuk swap the puck a few times at the point before Werenski finds just enough space to skate in near the high slot and fire, beating Gibson to tie it up.

(15:14 — DET Goal): Faulk, who had scored just one goal since Jan. 3, gets his second of the game with just under five minutes left to give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead. Andrew Copp wins the faceoff to DeBrincat, who slides it to Faulk, who launches a slapper past Greaves for what seemed to be a season-crushing goal...

(19:43 — CBJ Goal): ...until Fantilli comes through with the biggest goal of his career so far. Sean Monahan wins a crucial faceoff to Marchenko along the boards. He whips it to Werenski at the point, who fakes a shot and then gets a quick dish over to Fantilli at the right dot. He slaps it past Gibson to tie the game at 3-3, absolutely deflating the Detroit faithful.

Overtime + Shootout:

After a scoreless overtime where each team had several good chances and Greaves made seven saves, some of the dazzling variety, the game went to a shootout. Kent Johnson started it off with a goal, but it took Coyle's third-round tuck past the glove of Gibson to keep things going. After Fantilli rang one off the post in the fourth, Werenski went right up the slot for the game-winner.

CBJ GAME STATS DET
35 SHOTS 37
80 SHOT ATTEMPTS 76
37 SCORING CHANCES 36
10 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 9
54% FACEOFF PERCENTAGE 46%
1/4 POWER PLAY 1/1
0/1 PENALTY KILL 3/4
20 HITS 26
15 GIVEAWAYS 14
6 TAKEAWAYS 5
21 BLOCKED SHOTS 25

Stat Chat:

  • The 35 shots on goal were more than the Blue Jackets had had in their last two games combined. They had 26 total shots on goal against Carolina (10) and Winnipeg (16). They also had as many or more shots on goal in each period (8+) as they had in any single period over the previous two games.
     
  • The Blue Jackets 15 shots on goal in the middle period was the most they'd had in a single period since getting 17 on net in the first period of a March 9 game against the Los Angeles Kings.
     
  • The Blue Jackets have now won six games in a row in which Werenski has scored. He's now at 80 points, making him just the third American-born defenseman in league history with consecutive 80-point seasons, joining Phil Housley and Brian Leetch.
     
  • The win put Columbus at 90 points, surpassing last season's total of 89 points and giving the Blue Jackets their sixth-highest point total in franchise history. Next up: 92 points, which they did during the 2008-09 season, and 93 points, achieved during the 2013-14 campaign.

Up Next:

The final road trip of the regular season continues Thursday when the Blue Jackets are in Buffalo to take on the Sabres. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. As the case was in this one, two critical points on the line.

2 Comments

Changes Are Coming: Rick Bowness Says Blue Jackets' Lines Will Look Different Tuesday; Here's Our Projection

Rick Bowness says changes are coming — before it’s too late. With five games remaining, how might the Blue Jackets’ lines look as they try to salvage their season?

Game Preview: Greaves, Blue Jackets Take On Gibson, Red Wings In High‑Stakes Clash

It’s the resistible force against the movable object Tuesday night when the Columbus Blue Jackets battle the Detroit Red Wings —but despite both teams’ struggles, the winner will see their playoff hopes rejuvenated.
View 2 Comments