Adam Fantilli Scores on the Power Play 59 Seconds Into Overtime as Blue Jackets Edge Golden Knights 2-1

Adam Fantilli ended a goalie duel 59 seconds into overtime, and he needed only one mistake to do it. Fifteen seconds into the extra period, Shea Theodore took a holding penalty drawn by Matthew Knies, and on the 4-on-3 power play that followed, Fantilli beat Carter Hart from the right circle at 0:59 to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 2–1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena — a game Vegas controlled for long stretches and still lost, because Cam Talbot would not let it win.

A goalie duel, traded goal for goal

Columbus scored first. Denton Mateychuk’s second goal of the season — a backhand at 11:51 of the first period, set up by Kent Johnson and Valeri Nichushkin — made it 1–0, and it was the kind of start a home underdog builds a night on. Vegas answered before the period ended: Tomas Hertl tied it at 17:13 with his fifth of the season, from Braeden Bowman and Trevor Connelly, and from there the game narrowed into a duel between the two goaltenders.

Talbot won that duel outright. He stopped 26 of the 27 shots Vegas put on him — a .963 save percentage — and 13 of those saves came in the third period alone, while the Golden Knights pressed for the winner and Columbus protected a 1–1 game. Hart was solid at the other end, finishing with 18 saves on 20 shots, but he was the second-best goaltender on the ice. ESPN’s game summary records the same lines the Associated Press and Reuters / Field Level Media recaps agree on, fact for fact: two goals traded in the first period, none after, and a steal in the Columbus net.

Fifty-nine seconds into overtime

Overtime barely had time to become overtime. Fifteen seconds in, Theodore was called for holding on Knies, and Vegas — a team that had not lost in overtime all season — was suddenly killing a 4-on-3 in the first minute of the extra period. Columbus moved it quickly, and Fantilli, from the right circle, scored his third goal of the season at 0:59, with assists from Charlie Coyle and Johnson. It was Johnson’s second assist of the night, and it ended the game before Vegas ever touched the puck with a chance to answer.

The winner is the moment NHL.com’s official recap of the game leads with — Fantilli mobbed by teammates at the glass, the home crowd on its feet — because it was the only moment all night that Talbot’s brilliance actually needed in support.

Three straight losses for Vegas

For the Golden Knights, the loss is their third straight, and their first defeat in overtime this season. The shape of it is what stings: they outshot Columbus 27–20, got the tying goal in the first period, carried the play through a third period in which Talbot had to make 13 saves, and still left with the single point instead of two. Games like this one are decided by the goaltender who refuses to blink, and on Saturday night that goaltender wore Columbus navy.

Full box score, linescore and play-by-play: Gamecast — Golden Knights at Blue Jackets. More: NHL hub · Stats Hub