Blue Jackets Respond to Devils' Criticism After Fiery Win in New Jersey
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Blue Jackets were back on the ice Wednesday, prepping for Thursday’s clash with the Detroit Red Wings. But the echoes from Monday’s emotional 5-3 win over the Devils in New Jersey were still reverberating - and not just because of the scoreboard.
That game wasn’t just a comeback win. It was a full-on battle, featuring four fights, a handful of scrums, and now, some pointed words from Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe. After the final horn, Keefe didn’t hold back, accusing Blue Jackets forwards Dmitri Voronkov and Adam Fantilli of taking liberties with his players - specifically, initiating fights against opponents who weren’t ready to drop the gloves.
Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason addressed the controversy briefly on Wednesday, making it clear the team wasn’t buying into the narrative being pushed from the other bench.
“(Keefe) has no bearing on what happens in our room,” Evason said. “Our guys know what happened.
Of course, we’ve heard the comments. I don’t think they’re accurate.
Yeah, no. We don’t put a lot of stock in it.”
Breaking Down the Brawl
Things boiled over just over a minute into the second period at Prudential Center. Adam Fantilli had followed his own shot to the net, and that’s where the trouble started.
Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon and teammate Jonas Siegenthaler engaged Fantilli in front of the crease. Then Dmitri Voronkov stepped in, grabbing Dillon from behind in what looked like an attempt to pull him away.
Luke Glendening jumped in as well, grabbing Voronkov. But as Dillon spun around in Voronkov’s grasp, he threw a left - and that’s when things escalated.
Voronkov, interpreting the jab as the start of a fight, responded with two heavy uppercuts that dropped Dillon face-first to the ice. It was a scary moment, especially considering Dillon was celebrating his 1,000th NHL game that night.
Dillon returned briefly in the second period but didn’t play in the third.
Keefe was adamant postgame that Dillon didn’t know he was in a fight.
“(Dillon) would never do something like that to another player,” Keefe said. “That I know, for certain.
I don’t think Dilly knows he’s in a fight. I think he’s tackled from behind, and before he knows it, his helmet’s off, his jersey’s over his head and … we saw what happened from there.”
Voronkov, who rarely speaks to media and is not a native English speaker, hasn’t commented on the incident.
Fantilli’s First NHL Fight
Just a few minutes after the Voronkov-Dillon scrap, Fantilli found himself in the middle of the action again - this time dropping the gloves for the first fight of his NHL career.
It started when Devils forward Connor Brown delivered a series of cross-checks and slashes to Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski. Fantilli stepped in to defend his teammate. Brown slashed Fantilli, they exchanged more stick work, and then Blue Jackets forward Zach Aston-Reese entered the fray, grabbing Brown.
That’s when Siegenthaler reached through the crowd and latched onto Fantilli. The two separated from the pile, and suddenly, it was on.
Fantilli landed several punches, pulling Siegenthaler’s jersey over his head before Siegenthaler regained his footing and returned a couple of rights. Both players were assessed fighting majors, but Siegenthaler also received a 10-minute misconduct because his jersey wasn’t properly tied down - a rule designed to prevent players from shedding gear too easily in a fight.
Keefe was again critical of how the fight unfolded.
“Siegenthaler received seven punches before he removed his gloves,” Keefe said. “So … for me, there should be an extra penalty there (for Fantilli).”
He also questioned whether Siegenthaler should be penalized for not being a “willing fighter,” implying the defenseman was caught off guard.
Fantilli, unsurprisingly, saw it differently.
“The way I saw it, Brown was slashing our best player (Werenski),” Fantilli said. “I went in to get in the middle of that and Aston-Reese came over the top. I already had one glove off with the Brown thing, and then Siegenthaler came over top and grabbed me.
“I don’t think you come over top, grab someone and go away if you’re not ready for something. I had my gloves off.
Keefe says I threw seven punches before (Siegenthaler) takes his gloves off. I don’t know how you take seven punches before throwing your gloves off.
That’s a pretty long time.”
Setting the Tone
Later in the second period, Voronkov dropped the gloves again - this time with Brendan Smith - as the Blue Jackets continued to push back physically and emotionally. And while the fights drew headlines, the scoreboard told the story: Columbus snapped a four-game losing streak with a gritty 5-3 win on the road.
Fantilli, still just a rookie, didn’t shy away from how proud he was of the team’s response.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m proud of what our team did, especially the way we started,” he said. “We came back, we played a great game.
“Listen, you hate to see what happened to Dillon. That sucks, especially in his 1,000th game.
You don’t want anything like that to happen. He’s a great player.
That sucks to see. But again, he hit (Voronkov) in the face first, if you watch the video.”
The Blue Jackets were missing two of their most physical presences - injured veterans Mathieu Olivier and Erik Gudbranson - but still managed to stand their ground. That made the win, and the response, even more meaningful inside the Columbus locker room.
But what clearly struck a nerve with both Evason and Fantilli were the implications in Keefe’s comments - that this was a team crossing a line, that their actions were somehow against the code.
“We don’t want that kind of rap because we don’t think that’s the way it went down,” Fantilli said. “Things were provoked. I don’t think there’s much to (Keefe’s comments), to be honest with you.”
The Blue Jackets and Devils won’t see each other again until New Year’s Eve in Columbus. But that date is already circled - literally - for some players.
Asked if he’d heard from Olivier recently, Fantilli cracked a smile.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Ollie’s fired up. He’s got that game circled on his calendar, for sure.”
So do the rest of us.