Jackets top Jets for 14th straight win
WINNIPEG -- The Columbus Blue Jackets just keep on rolling.
Hockey's hottest team won its 14th straight game on Thursday night, downing the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 in a feisty affair at the MTS Centre.
Nick Foligno led the way with a goal and two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky won his league-best 23rd game in stopping 31 of 34 shots he faced.
Columbus is now 25-5-4 and on top of the NHL standings thanks to the streak, which has seen it go 15-0-1 over their past 16 games. The Blue Jackets haven't tasted defeat since a Nov. 26 shootout loss to Florida. Their last regulation loss came on Nov. 23 against Calgary.
It's been an incredible turnaround from a team that finished 27th-overall in the league last season. They're now just three wins short of tying Pittsburgh's all-time NHL record of 17 consecutive victories, set during the 1992-93 season.
Winnipeg falls to 17-18-3.
The Jets entered play feeling good about their game, having won four of their previous five including an impressive 3-1 decision in Chicago on Tuesday night, which several players called one of their most complete efforts of the year.
But Winnipeg was unable to carry that momentum over to Columbus. Thursday's victory looked like many of their others -- contributions from four balanced scoring lines, a top-ranked power-play unit, outstanding goaltending from Bobrovsky along with plenty of physical play that no doubt has head coach John Tortorella smiling.
After spotting an early goal to the Jets, the Blue Jackets stepped on the gas and revved the engine. They took a 3-1 lead into the third period, then essentially sealed the deal when Alexander Wennberg scored his second of the game on a power play just 45 seconds into the final frame.
Brian Little made it a bit more respectable when he scored on a pretty tic-tac-toe play with 13:31 left in the game. Lucas Sedlak restored the three-goal lead late in the period off a dandy deflection to beat Hutchinson. Mathieu Perreault then finished off the scoring with a power-play marker.
Winnipeg came out with a clear mandate to get pucks to the Columbus net early and often. The offensive blitz paid off just 2:36 into the game, as a Jacob Trouba point shot was deflected by Shawn Matthias over a screened Sergei Bobrovsky to give the Jets a quick lead. At that point, Winnipeg was outshooting Columbus 6-0.
The Blue Jackets didn't panic and soon began taking the play to the Jets, tying the game at the 7:55 mark. Brandon Saad took advantage of a mishandled puck by goalie Michael Hutchinson and put home the rebound.
Columbus struck again late in the period, as their top-ranked power play needed just four seconds against the 28th-ranked penalty kill to make it a 2-1 game. Foligno tipped a shot for his 12th goal of the season.
The Jets outshot the Blue Jackets 14-12 in the opening frame.
Columbus added to its lead midway through the second period in controversial fashion. Wennberg fired a puck into an empty net after Hutchinson was knocked down by Foligno in his crease. Winnipeg challenged for goalie interference, but the goal was upheld when replays showed Foligno was pushed into Hutchinson by Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom.
Things went from bad to worse for the Jets late in the middle period as a pair of forwards went down with injuries. Marko Dano crashed into the boards and had to be helped off the ice, and just moments later, teammate Mathieu Perreault was in obvious distress after blocking a shot. Both players went straight to the dressing room without putting any weight on their left legs.
NOTES: The next goal by Winnipeg rookie Patrik Laine will be a costly one for the organization. The 18-year-old has a contract bonus of $212,500 for hitting the 20-goal mark. He came close to the milestone on Tuesday night, hitting the post on an empty Chicago net. ... Columbus was making teams pay for their sins, posting a league-best 27.1 percent efficiency on the power play through Wednesday. Leading the way was RW Cam Atkinson, whose 17 power-play points were tops in the NHL. ... Winnipeg came into Thursday's game having won two in a row on six different occasions, only to fail in their attempt to make it three in a row every previous time. ... Thursday was the first meeting of the season between the clubs. They will play again on April 6 in Columbus. ... The Jets' scratches were C Alex Burmistrov, RW Chris Thorburn and D Mark Stuart. ... The Blue Jackets sat LW Markus Hannikainen, D Scott Harrington and D Dalton Prout.