The Columbus Blue Jackets keep running into the same wall: the goals just aren’t coming often enough.
Through 16 games, the offense has been too easy to bottle up. Outside of two nights when they erupted for six goals and seven goals, Columbus has managed only 28 goals in 14 games - exactly two per game. That kind of output leaves little margin for error, and it’s why the Blue Jackets keep spending so much time trying to claw back late instead of controlling games from the start.
That showed up again at home against the Florida Panthers, where Columbus fell 4-1. It’s the kind of result that fits the broader pattern. This team keeps searching for answers after the fact, and as the season has worn on, the need for a steadier scoring base has only grown louder.
The challenge was always going to be real after the trade that brought Matthew Knies to Columbus so late before the season, and after the Blue Jackets dealt their best goal scorer, Kirill Marchenko. That left a hole up front, and nearly a month and a half into the year, the same problem is still staring them in the face. Head Coach Rick Bowness has kept pointing to the chances being there and insisting the goals will follow, but the wait continues.
Knies is one of the players they need to wake up.
He opened the season with a two-goal night, then went quiet for the next 15 games. Asked whether the drought is getting to him, he didn’t sound rattled.
“It’ll come you know. I am not too worried about it.
I feel like if I score tomorrow, and it opens up and I score the following day, and then we aren’t talking about this. So, it just kind of comes in waves like that,” said Knies.
Columbus has been trying to shake something loose by moving him around the lineup and pairing him with players such as Kent Johnson and Zach Werenski, both of whom have been producing lately. Knies knows the assignment is simple.
“They’re good players, smart players, they make a lot of good plays, and I just got to find myself in the right areas to kind of bury the puck,” said Knies.
The Blue Jackets are hoping that if Knies starts finishing again, it gives them another layer offensively. With his size and the presence of Dmitri Voronkov in front of the net, there’s a different look there that Columbus still hasn’t fully unlocked. Knies has also been getting time on the top power play unit, where the puck movement around him should create chances for him to slip free, get lost in coverage, or get a stick on pucks in front.
That kind of impact matters even more when the games get heavy. Columbus needs him to be a factor not just as a finisher, but as a body who can shield defenders and hold onto the puck when the pace gets more physical.
Adam Fantilli is dealing with his own slow start.
He has six points in 16 games, and only two of those are assists. That’s not close to the point-per-game level Bowness believes he can reach, and once again he’s lagging behind the pace to open a season. His 2023 NHL Draft counterpart Leo Carlsson is off to a much hotter start with 26 points in 18 games, including 20 assists.
Fantilli has started slowly in each of his previous three seasons in Columbus, so this isn’t unfamiliar territory. Still, the pressure is there, and the puck hasn’t seemed to bounce his way around the net.
Even practice hasn’t gone smoothly. He was banged up a bit on Monday and showed some frustration after getting caught up in a drill.
Talked to Fantilli today. He’s feeling better today, physically, than yesterday … when he accidentally got trucked by Ivan Provorov in a drill and then got his leg awkwardly and painfully pinned on the wall in PP work.
He wasn’t thrilled. All good now, though.
#CBJ
- Brian Hedger (@BrianHedger) November 10, 2026
While Johnson and Werenski have found their offensive rhythm, Columbus is still waiting for Fantilli to join them. He’s now on the second power play unit, and he’s also been moved to the second forward line with Valeri Nichushkin and Dmitri Voronkov. That group has the size and physical edge to wear teams down, but it also has the potential to create real offense once it clicks.
The schedule gives Columbus a chance to respond at home. The Blue Jackets have three straight games at Nationwide Arena this week, starting with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, then the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. The Lightning game comes on the second night of a back-to-back, with puck drop set for 7:00pm ET.
There is at least some opportunity here for Columbus to build momentum before a week-long road trip. The Panthers game didn’t go the way they wanted, but the Blue Jackets do have a chance to reset against a team they haven’t lost to since early in 2025, after going 3-0-0 against them last season.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Suddenly Face Bench Uncertainty On Game Night
Rick Bowness was absent from the Blue Jackets game against the Tampa Bay Lightning because of an illness, leaving Columbus to adjust on the fly for a night when the bench looked a little different than usual. In his second season with the club, Bowness has brought plenty of experience to a young roster, and his presence behind the bench is usually part of the teams nightly routine.
Don Granato handled the coaching duties in Bowness place, giving Columbus a different voice in a game that already carried the usual stakes of an Eastern Conference matchup. For a team trying to keep its footing, any late change behind the bench adds another layer to manage, especially when it involves the NHLs oldest head coach being out of action on game night. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Let Another Home Game Slip Away In Brutal Third Period
Another home game got away from the Blue Jackets on a night when they had chances to settle in and build something against Tampa Bay. Columbus managed just one goal, from Matthew Knies, while Brandon Hagel powered the Lightning attack with two goals and an assist and Nikita Kucherov set the table with two helpers in a 3-1 loss that left the building with the familiar feeling of a missed opportunity.
Dennis Hildeby backed up the win with 28 saves, and the game stayed within reach long enough for Columbus to believe it could still turn. Instead, the third period tilted the wrong way, and the Blue Jackets were left to sort through another frustrating finish against a division opponent that did enough in the key moments to leave Columbus searching for answers. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Suddenly Need Answers On Sean Monahan
Sean Monahans night ended early in Tampa, and the Blue Jackets suddenly have another injury situation to sort through. The veteran forward had one assist in 9:58 of ice time before leaving the game against the Lightning with an upper-body injury, a development that came in a 3-1 loss Columbus could ill afford as it tried to keep pace.
The immediate concern now is how long Monahan might be unavailable and what it means for a lineup that already had to adjust on the fly. Columbus did not have him back for the rest of the game, and with the team looking for stability up front, any absence from a center with his experience would force another round of shuffling at a time when the Blue Jackets need answers more than they need another question. [Read more 🡒]