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Columbus Blue Jackets have magic with Marchment, Marchenko, Fantilli
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- Columbus Blue Jackets have magic with Marchment, Marchenko, Fantilli
"Mush" and "Marchy" sat across the locker room after the Blue Jackets' 8-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 24 at Nationwide Arena.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets end Tampa Bay Lightning point streak in 8-5 win
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They waited, patiently, for "Mo" to finish speaking with reporters, making sure that all three members of their line were included in a photo to commemorate a hat trick. Technically, it was Mush's third career hat trick and first since joining the Jackets on Dec. 19 in a trade with the Seattle Kraken , but what fun would that've been to get only a snapshot of Mason Marchment and three pucks?
So, they waited.
Each got a puck, flashed a smile and posed for a shot that may adorn the walls at Nationwide Arena for years to come. Kirill "Marchy" Marchenko is on the left. Marchment, the third "Mush" in his family lineage, is in the middle. Adam "Mo" Fantilli (birth name Adamo) is on the right.
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What a run it's been for those three in their first eight games together for the Blue Jackets (24-20-7), who put a stop to the rampaging Lightning's 15-game point streak and pulled within four points of the New York Islanders for third in the Metropolitan Division.
Blue Jackets left wing Mason Marchment (left) celebrates his third goal of the game with center Adam Fantilli against the Lightning on Jan. 24.
In two games since Marchment's return from an eight-game absence with an upper-body injury, the "Mush, Mo and Marchy" line has picked up right where they'd left off. Their chemistry began to return Jan. 22 in a 1-0 victory over the Dallas Stars , even though it didn't result in any goals for their line, but they struck four times against the Lightning (32-14-4).
"I'm a big talker," Marchment said. "I'm kind of getting these guys going, and we're talking a lot on the bench, too, which is fun. That's where it starts is just communication, and if you know where the guy's going to be, it's easy."
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They're definitely making it look easy.
In eight games together, Marchment has 10 points on seven goals and three assists, Marchenko has nine points on five goals and four assists, and Fantilli has seven points on a goal and six assists while also winning more than 50% of his faceoffs.
Blue Jackets left wing Mason Marchment celebratesa Jan. 24 goal against the Lightning.
They're doing exactly what Marchenko suggested going into their first full game together as the Jackets' top line, a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 22. Marchment scored the first two goals of that one, Marchenko scored the third and Fantilli got an assist … all during power plays.
"His energy," Marchment said of Marchenko, "It's awesome. I think the first time we played together, he came up to me and said, 'Let's have some fun,' so the energy is easy to feed off, and it's a lot of fun."
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Fantilli's enjoying it, too. His goal ended a 17-game goal drought that was driving him batty, giving the Jackets their third lead in a wild first period, 3-2. It also preceded Dmitri Voronkov's goal 1:14 later that made it 4-2 at the first intermission.
Fantilli also assisted on Charlie Coyle's 200th career goal to cap a power play late in the second and got the puck from Marchenko late in the third for a feed to Marchment at center ice for his third goal, scored into an empty net with 24.4 seconds left.
"We were just as close (against Dallas)," Fantilli said. "It was just a couple bounces. We created a lot. We had a lot off the rush, but (against Tampa Bay ) we had a little bit more (offensive zone) time, and it paid off. We just stuck to our game, and when you play like that, more times than not you're getting the right bounces in the right areas, so it worked out."
According to Natural Stat Trick , the Blue Jackets outshot Dallas 6-3 in their 12:52 together at 5-on-5. The Stars, however, generated at 6-3 edge in total scoring chances that included a 1-0 margin in high-danger looks.
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Against the Lightning , the Blue Jackets were actually outshot 10-7 in their top line's 12:58 of 5-on-5 and finished -2 in scoring chances (5-7). They were also -1 in high-danger chances (1-2) but outscored Tampa Bay 2-1 in those minutes. Marchment netted his second goal moments after stepping out of the penalty box in the second, putting the Jackets up 5-4 with Fantilli and Marchenko on the bench, but there's no denying their instant chemistry together.
Just check out their hat trick photo . Mush, Mo and Marchy are having fun.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Marchment, Marchenko, Fantilli still clicking for Columbus Blue Jackets
