Tragedy strikes 3rd overall pick Adam Fantilli

Adam Fantilli did everything he could on Thursday night to get the win for his Columbus Blue Jackets over the New York Islanders. The Jackets however caved defensively in a mid-game collapse and the Isles got the blowout 7-3 win in front of their local fans.

The third overall pick in this summer’s draft was not to blame as his line struck twice in the second period to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead. Fantalli, who plays between Kent Johnson and Emil Bemstrom made the highlight reel with this beautiful sequence:

The star rookie ended the night with two goals and an assist, and shared after the game that he wanted to perform well for his grandmother. An emotional Fantilli then explained to media members in the scrum that his grandma recently passed and he’s been playing for her. He explained how the extra motivation came from this unfortunate tragedy, per Brian Hedger:

In last night’s contest, Fantalli recorded his first multi-goal game of his NHL career and currently sits tied for second in rookie scoring behind Connor Bedard (21) with his 15 points.

While his stats look good despite the performances from the lowly Jackets, Fantalli is living a tough situation with the loss of his grandmother and we can only send him our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

I am sure the star rookie will keep looking to make his grandma proud and we can only wish him to use that extra motivation to get the Blue Jackets back on track and see him as a contender for the Calder Trophy this season, despite having tough competition in Bedard.

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