Blue Jackets at Jets
The Columbus Blue Jackets’ 13-game winning streak is edging into historical territory, but captain Nick Foligno insists the focus must remain on the next challenge, which comes Thursday at the Winnipeg Jets. “When you start getting caught up in all the stuff, that’s when the game can fool you,” Foligno cautioned to reporters after the Blue Jackets beat Boston 4-3 on Tuesday, moving Columbus within one win of the fourth-longest streak in NHL history.
Columbus has not lost since a shootout defeat to Florida on Nov. 26, and since that setback allowed only 1.6 goals per game with a plus-31 goal differential. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky recorded 37 saves against the Bruins to improve to 11-0-0 during the win streak with a .944 goals against average. Winnipeg has won four of its past five, including an impressive 3-1 victory Tuesday at Chicago during which they hit the post four times, successfully killed all three Chicago power plays and got 34 saves from goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. “We played hard, we play fast and we’ve got to keep building off that sort of game,” defenseman Josh Morrissey told reporters afterward. “That’s our identity, and we’ve got to keep doing that every night.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), TSN3 (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (24-5-4): Bobrovsky leads the NHL with 22 wins and is 16-1-1 in his past 18 appearances. Foligno, who recorded 37 points a season ago, has one goal and three assists in his past three games to raise the forward’s totals to 11 goals and 17 assists through 31 contests. Forward Cam Atkinson leads Columbus in goals (15) and points (35), but had a nine-game point streak snapped Tuesday.
ABOUT THE JETS (17-17-3): Winnipeg has three players with 30-plus points, including center Mark Scheifele (team-leading 32 points) and rookie forward Patrik Laine (19 goals). Scheifele scored on a redirect Tuesday and has four points in his past four games, while forward Blake Wheeler extended his points streak to five games with a first-period marker. After giving up nine power-play goals in a five-game stretch, the Jets killed all 10 opposing power plays in the past three contests.
OVERTIME
1. A Columbus victory Thursday would match 14-game win streaks by the 1929-30 Bruins and the 2009-10 Capitals; the 1992-93 Penguins hold the longest win streak in history at 17 games.
2. The Blue Jackets are 9-of-27 on the power play in their past eight games.
3. Winnipeg assigned forwards Andrew Copp and Brandon Tanev to Manitoba of the AHL on Wednesday.