Blue Jackets manage only 14 shots on goal, lose 2-1 to Minnesota

Sunday, October 18, 2026
By Ed Francis
efrancis@cbussports.com

Adam Fantilli scored the Columbus Blue Jackets’ only goal against the Minnesota Wild Sunday on a delayed penalty as time wound down in the first period. File photo

It was a one-goal game on the ice, but the box score told a different story.

The Columbus Blue Jackets were thoroughly outshot, 34-14, in a 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday evening.

The 14 shots were their second-fewest in a game over the past decade, ahead of only the franchise-low 10 they recorded against the Carolina Hurricanes in April of this year.

Danila Yurov and Kirill Kaprizov scored for the Wild, while Adam Fantilli got his second goal of the season for Columbus.

Head coach Rick Bowness said the effort was there.

“It was (there). We worked very hard,” Bowness said. “It’s the execution. We couldn’t get any flow going to the game. That would be the biggest disappointment is the execution.”

Cam Talbot stopped 32 of 34 shots and was named the third star of the game, while Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt stopped 13 of 14 shots and was not named one of the Three Stars of the Game — a rare instance in which the losing goaltender received more recognition than the winning one.

Here’s how the Blue Jackets dipped back below .500 for the season:

MIN: 1, CBJ: 0 (1ST PERIOD, 1:48 REMAINING)

The Wild take the lead after a turnover from Carson Soucy in the neutral zone. That puts Yurov and Yakov Trenin on a 2-on-1 with only Erik Gudbranson back for the Blue Jackets. He goes to the ice too early and Trenin dishes it to Yurov, who beats Talbot from close range to make it 1-0 Minnesota.

MIN: 1, CBJ: 1 (1ST PERIOD, 0:48  REMAINING)

Columbus’ only goal of the evening, off the stick of Fantilli, comes on a delayed penalty and exactly one minute after Minnesota’s tally. On as the extra skater, Fantilli fires the puck on net after taking a pass from Zach Werenski, tying the game at 1-1. While Val Nichushkin doesn’t get a point on the play, his screening of Wallstedt helped make the goal happen.

MIN: 2, CBJ: 1 (2ND PERIOD, 16:54  REMAINING)

Minnesota regains the lead on Kaprizov’s power play goal, and this would eventually be the game-winner. He takes a pass from Maxim Shabanov and with Gudbranson hesitating to make a move, Kaprizov skates in and slips it past Talbot from near the faceoff dot. Kaprizov’s goal here also made him the first NHL player to get into double-digit goals this season.

QUICK THOUGHTS: It’s hard to agree with Bowness’ take that the effort was there. They managed just seven shots on goal in the final 40 minutes of the game and had just three high-danger chances in that span. There’s a difference between playing hard and playing effectively and, at some point, the lack of offensive production has to raise questions about more than just execution.

It was also another game without a power play goal for the Blue Jackets, who went 0/2 in the game and are now just 2/17 (11.8%) on the season with the man advantage.

On the defensive side, the trio of Gudbranson, Soucy, and Jake Christiansen just can’t be half of an NHL defense. This team misses Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro in the worst of ways, and it’s beginning to feel like there’s got to be someone in Cleveland that deserves a chance to see what they can do on the big team.

NEXT UP: The Blue Jackets return home Tuesday when they face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7:00 p.m. It’s the first time Kirill Marchenko will come into Nationwide Arena wearing the opposite sweater, with boos sure to be abundant. Expect Jet Greaves to get the start in net for that one.