COLUMBUS, Ohio — Looking like a team battling fatigue early, the Ducks found their game and salvaged a point in the finale of a five-game road trip.
The Ducks’ Jackson LaCombe tied the score with 3:16 left in regulation, but Adam Fantilli scored with 1:28 left in overtime to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 victory on Tuesday night, snapping their five-game losing streak (0-4-1).
Zach Werenski scored twice and added an assist in his 600th NHL game, Boone Jenner had a goal and an assist, and Kent Johnson added two assists. Jet Greaves stopped 24 shots for his first win since Nov. 20.
Mikael Granlund had a goal and an assist and Ryan Strome also scored for the Ducks (20-12-2), who were coming off a 4-1 win against the New York Rangers on Monday night and finished 2-2-1 on their trip. Ryan Poehling added two assists, and Ville Husso made 24 saves.
“We did a lot of good things and we did some things that, you know, we’re generous, but at the same time we’ll take the point on the road down by two,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville told NHL.com. “In overtime, we’ve had a lot of success and today was one of the games that didn’t go our way, but we’ll take the point on the road trip and regroup when we get home.”
Werenski gave Columbus (14-13-6) an early lead at 8:21 of the first period, burying a feed from Jenner to extend his home point streak to 11 games.
The teams then combined for four goals in just under two minutes early in the second period.
Strome pulled the Ducks even when he worked a give-and-go with Poehling and scored with a wrist shot from the crease at 3:35 of the second. Columbus responded with two goals in a 43-second span. Werenski tallied 24 seconds later when he elected not to pass to Isac Lundestrom at the end of a 2-on-1 rush and shot the puck under Husso’s glove for a 2-1 lead. Columbus made it 3-1 at 4:18 when Jenner backhanded in the rebound of an Ivan Provorov shot just 19 seconds later to make it 3-1.
“The second period we just let off for a little bit,” LaCombe told NHL.com. “I think we’ve got to play a full 60 minutes. Obviously, they’re a good team but there’s areas we can improve on.
“We’re kind of in and out of games right now. It feels like it’s every other game we’re playing strong. But we’ve done a lot of things well. We’ve just got to keep going.”
The fourth line for the Ducks cut it to 3-2 after Blue Jackets defenseman Denton Mateychuk fell while handling the puck in his zone, leading to a 3-on-2 rush. Frank Vatrano dropped the puck for Granlund, who scored near side from the inside edge of the left circle at 5:29.
LaCombe tied the score with 3:16 left in the third when he carried the puck below the goal line and banked his shot off Greaves’ helmet and into the net.
Fantilli then ended it in overtime, netting an unassisted goal with a wrist shot from the right circle 1-on-1 against Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger after carrying the puck into the Ducks’ zone with speed.
The win was Columbus’ first over the Ducks in Nationwide Arena since Dec. 1, 2017.
The teams will square off again on Saturday at the Honda Center.
UP NEXT
The Ducks host Dallas on Friday at 7 p.m.