Blue Jackets grab a point vs. Anaheim

COLUMBUS -- Alex Killorn scored his second goal of the game at 1:43 of overtime, and the Anaheim Ducks rallied for a 4-3 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.

Killorn took a stretch pass from Robby Fabbri and scored on a breakaway.

Ducks coach Greg Cronin said the forward was an unlikely scorer.

“It's funny, because he's not in the top three or four guys going out in overtime, but he's so responsible defensively,” Cronin said. “The face-off’s in our zone. Robby Fabbri had done good on the face-off, so I put him [Killorn] out there for a defensive reason and Robby for his speed and winning the draw, and it ends up working out well for us.”

Jackson LaCombe had a goal and an assist, Fabbri and Troy Terry each had two assists, and Killorn added an assist for the Ducks (11-14-4), who ended an 0-4-1 skid. John Gibson made 39 saves, including 16 in the third period.

The Ducks had lost the first three (0-2-1) of their four-game road trip.

“I liked three of our games this trip,” Anaheim forward Ryan Strome said. “We just couldn't find a way to get points. So, to find a way in the last one, a tough stop on the way home, kind of a tough game and a little bit of a trap game, I thought we played a good, hard game. We didn't give up.”

Kirill Marchenko, Cole Sillinger and James van Riemsdyk scored, and Jet Greaves made 23 saves for the Blue Jackets (12-13-5). They are 0-1-2 in their past three games, losing the past two in overtime after leading in the third period, including a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

“We’ve definitely got to find some more consistency,” van Riemsdyk said, “especially in scenarios where we have a lead in the third period, I think just finding ways to really stick to our plan.”

Mason McTavish put the Ducks ahead 1-0 at 16:33 of the first period for his 100th NHL point. He scored with a snap shot on the rush, then was called for goaltender interference at the end of the play.

Marchenko tied it 1-1 on the ensuing power play at 17:09, scoring with a wrist shot from the slot.

Sillinger gave Columbus a 2-1 lead 34 seconds later at 17:43, taking a pass out of the right corner by Zach Aston-Reese and slipping a backhand under Gibson’s right arm.

Killorn tied it 2-2 at 13:56 of the second period, one-timing a backdoor pass from Strome.

“It's not a will situation, like we don't doubt our guys try,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said, “it's just we're making some mistakes that have been uncharacteristic for the majority of this season. The positive part is that we know it's in there, and I would argue that it was more positive than negative here tonight.”

Dmitri Voronkov had goal overturned for Columbus at 17:51 when Anaheim challenged for offside.

But van Riemsdyk put the Blue Jackets back in front 3-2 at 11:25 of third period, redirecting a pass from Damon Severson, before LaCombe scored on a long one-timer through traffic that went off the shin of Blue Jackets defenseman Dante Fabbro to tie it 3-3 at 17:14.

“You’ve just got to make sure that throughout the season there's a lot of peaks and valleys and you’ve got to stay emotionally even-keeled,” Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson said. “You can't get too high, can't get too low.”

Earlier Saturday, the Ducks traded defenseman Cam Fowler and a fourth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft to the St. Louis Blues for defenseman prospect Jeremie Biakabutuka and a 2027 second-round pick. Fowler was the longest-tenured player on the team (15 seasons) and is second in Ducks history in games played (991) behind Ryan Getzlaf (1,157).

“Obviously an emotional morning, losing one of our leaders and a guy who’s been here for 15 years,” Strome said. “So, a good, gutsy win by the guys, really proud of them.”

NOTES: Terry has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past 10 games. ... McTavish has 41 goals and 59 assists in 176 games. … Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski extended his point streak to four games (four points; one goal, three assists). … Columbus forward Kent Johnson (assist) has six points (three goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak. … The Blue Jackets are 0-2-4 in their past six games against the Ducks at Nationwide Arena and haven’t defeated them at home since Dec. 1, 2017. … Columbus was 1-for-1 on the penalty kill and hasn’t allowed a power-play goal in its past 17 games (42 opportunities) against Anaheim dating to Feb. 11, 2016.