Deciding that it’s better to mince words than spit venom, Dean Evason had his shortest postgame media gathering since he took over as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. And Evason’s comments were just opaque enough to require interpretation.

The Blue Jackets, who led 1-0, 4-1, and 6-4, lost 7-6 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Sam Bennett’s goal with just 3.2 seconds remaining in overtime, bringing an end to a bizarre matinee before an announced crowd of 19,269 in Amerant Bank Arena.

It marked Columbus’ ninth consecutive loss (0-6-3) to Florida, its longest active streak against any opponent.

The game had a little bit of everything: blown leads, wide-open chances, controversial calls by officials, a controversial review call by Evason, hair-brained goaltending decisions … even a scene during overtime where Panthers menace Brad Marchand was caught listening in on the Blue Jackets’ bench during an overtime timeout.

“The whole game was a joke, that’s what I account it to,” Evason said. “In every way. The entire game was a joke.”

Asked if he was referring to the Blue Jackets’ decision to challenge the second-period goal by Florida, a decision that failed, other than to get the Panthers off and running to overcome a 4-1 deficit in a matter of minutes.

“It’s a joke,” Evason said. “An absolute joke.

“We played hard all night. We played great. We … we played great. The game was a joke.”

Damon Severson, Dmitri Voronkov, Miles Wood, Kirill Marchenko, Cole Sillinger and Isac Lundeström scored for the Blue Jackets, while goaltender Elvis Merzļikins, making his third consecutive start, allowed seven goals on 40 shots.

With 5:42 remaining in the third period, and the Blue Jackets leading 6-5, Merzļikins made a wild decision to come out of his net to challenge Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen, who had slipped past Columbus defenders Dante Fabbro and Severson.

KIITOS, LUNDY pic.twitter.com/d3Tg3c2XCg

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 6, 2025

Fabbro and Severson were possibly close enough to Luostarinen that they could have lifted a stick or disrupted him in another way, but Merzļikins, after hesitating, came roaring out of his crease to meet Luostarinen at the puck between the circles.

Merzļikins swatted at the puck, but Luostarinen got his stick on it, too, sending the puck up in the air, instead of out of the zone. It fell at the feet of Florida’s Anton Lundell, who fired a shot into Merzļikins’ net before he could recover.

The game was tied 6-6.

The Blue Jackets failed to convert a four-on-three power play in overtime, but it will be a memorable sequence if only for the antics of Marchand.

During the Blue Jackets’ timeout in OT, Brad Marchand sneakily skated over to the Columbus bench to see what they were drawing up 😭🤣 pic.twitter.com/2dQYc47m0X

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) December 6, 2025

Typically, NHL linesmen will make sure that players head to their own benches, but Marchand was allowed to skate all the way over to the Blue Jackets’ side after they took a timeout at 2:19 of OT. Werenski and Adam Fantilli shooed him away, and assistant coach Mike Haviland was angry, but there were no other consequences.

Fittingly, as time ticked away, Marchand and Bennett executed a two-on-one perfectly, with Bennett scoring past Merzļikins just before the final buzzer to end it.

It marked the 1oth time in 14 games that the Blue Jackets have played beyond regulation. They’re now 4-6 in those games. They also managed to blow another two-goal, third-period lead and lose points to an Eastern Conference club that might be competing with them for a playoff spot in April.

The game started going off the rails at 13:44 of the first period, when the Blue Jackets thought they’d taken a 2-1 lead on a goal by Brendan Gaunce. Replays showed the puck slid through traffic and caromed off the inside of Gauce’s right skate as he pulled to a stop at the net.

The Panthers argued that the goal was kicked into the net, and the NHL agreed that Gaunce had used a “distinct kicking motion.” No goal. Gaunce seemed incredulous on the bench.

Evason, infuriated, had a long conversation with NHL official Francis Charron during the TV timeout. It was the first of many talks between the two.

The Blue Jackets got that goal back and a couple of others, too, in a hot start to the second, and it appeared they might pull away after Voronkov, Wood and Marchenko each scored in a span of less than five minutes. It was 4-1 Columbus at 10:24 of the second period.

But the Panthers’ rally began in the oddest way imaginable.

That was not a hand pass pic.twitter.com/72ZLUIfLd6

— Florida Panthers Den Fans (@FlaPanthersDen) December 6, 2025

At 11:15 of the second, Marchand tried to glove a puck off the glass from behind the Blue Jackets’ net, but the puck deflected off his left glove and dropped behind him, right in the path of teammate Carter Verhaeghe.

The puck went back to Marchand, who fed Seth Jones at the top of the zone, and was deflected into the net by Verhaeghe, making it 4-2.

The Blue Jackets, however, challenged the goal, believing that Marchand was guilty of a hand pass. The NHL, after a lengthy review, ruled that the puck merely deflected off Marchand’s glove, that it wasn’t intentionally directed.

The goal stood, and it all seemed to juice the Panthers. They scored on the ensuing power play — Columbus’ penalty for its failed attempt — and tied it 4-4 on Jones’ power play goal at 16:12 of the second.

Evason was giving Charron and others an earful during every stoppage, it seems, until the end of the game, when Charron declined to go near the Blue Jackets’ bench.

Sillinger’s goal with 1:34 left in the second could have stanched the bleeding. Same as Lundeström’s goal off a 2-on-1 with Wood, his first goal of the season. The Blue Jackets led 6-4, but it wasn’t enough, even with Florida’s top two players — Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov.

This one joins other losses already this season — Nov. 2 at the New York Islanders, Nov. 10 at Edmonton, Nov. 22 at Detroit … as the kind of tantalizing devastation that could take days to get over.

But there’s no time for that, especially not this season. The Blue Jackets flew immediately after the game to Washington, where at 7 p.m. on Sunday, they’ll play the Washington Capitals.

“Our guys are great,” Evason said. “Our guys have no issues. They know what happened. They’ll be good (Sunday) night. We’ll play hard.”