Jets fall victim to Blue Jackets wild winning streak

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This article was published 29/12/2016 (3496 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Twelve teams before couldn’t get it done.

The Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings came mighty close but eventually suffered the same fate as the others. The Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders and, yes, even the Pittsburgh Penguins got trampled when they tried. The Phoenix Coyotes had two cracks but were foiled both times.

The Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks are also included on the list of losers.

Since Nov. 29, the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated all comers, shaping a 13-game winning streak — seven victories at home and six on the road — in the process.

Now, add the Winnipeg Jets to that ever-growing list.

The Jets could not handle the Blue Jackets on Thursday night at MTS Centre. Swift-skating, hard-checking Columbus posted a well-deserved 5-3 decision for its 14th straight NHL victory to improve to 25-5-4 and move back into first place in the league.

“They’re certainly up there,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler, when asked if the Blue Jackets provided the toughest test of the 2016-17 season to date. “You’d put them in the category of the elite in this league. Certainly, the way they’re going right now, 14 in a row, that’s a pretty impressive accomplishment.”

 

Leading the way

Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno led the way with his 12th goal of the season and a pair of assists, while goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves.

The NHL record for consecutive victories is 17, set by the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 1992-93 season.

The Blue Jackets collide with the league’s second-hottest team, the Minnesota Wild, Saturday afternoon in St. Paul, Minn. The Wild defeated the New York Islanders 6-4 Thursday and now have a dozen consecutive wins.

Alexander Wennberg scored twice, his seventh and eighth, for the Blue Jackets. Brandon Saad, with his 14th, and Lukas Sedlak, with his third, supplied singles.

Jets forward Shawn Matthias opened the scoring with his third goal of the year and his first since returning to the lineup Dec. 22 after missing 25 games with a lower-body injury. Bryan Little, with his sixth, and Mathieu Perreault, with his third, also scored for the Jets, who fell to 17-18-3 and botched a chance to generate a three-game winning streak.

Seven times this season Winnipeg has won back-to-back games, only to drop the next one. 

Winnipeg goalie Michael Hutchinson had 30 stops. He mishandled a puck behind his net, leading directly to Saad’s tying goal in the first period.

The Jets lost forward Marko Dano to a lower-body injury in the second period. He crashed hard into the boards and had to be helped off the ice

Jets head coach Paul Maurice hinted the injury is severe. “He’s gonna get tested (Friday) but it’s not good. I’ll be surprised if we come back on a short term injury here. We’re talking about weeks, easily,” he said.

 

Just too strong

Those not paying attention might have figured the Blue Jackets, who finished 27th in the league a year ago, are doing what they’re doing this season with smoke and mirrors.

There’s no chicanery here, folks. Columbus has some wicked wheels and a fierce forecheck, and is getting major contributions from the likes of Foligno, their veteran captain, forwards Cam Atkinson, a resurgent Sam Gagner and third-year Swedish-born Wennberg and young, sensational blue-liners Seth Jones and Zach Werenski.

“They were a pretty determined team on the forecheck. They got us into some situations where we were a little bit confused defensively on some pucks through to the net. It made it tough for us,” offered Wheeler, who had two assists. “You can see why they are where they are. They skate really well and they know their game. You gotta give them respect for the way they played.

The Blue Jackets power play, ranked No.1 in the league, continued to roll in Winnipeg, succeeding on two of four chances against the 28th-ranked penalty-killing unit.

And of course there’s Bobrovsky, who was a calming influence in the first period until his skaters found their rhythm and went on to register his league-leading 23rd triumph.

He got some help as the hosts were guilty of over-passing and misfiring on a number of quality chances. Little sliced the puck over the glass on a short-handed breakaway with the Jets down by two goals in the second period, while Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele both ripped shots wide on open looks at Bobrovsky from the slot.

“They have some pretty fine shooters, skilled players, and they’re on the puck,” said Maurice. “So, we got in trouble when we started to turn the puck over… some of the stuff we turned over they knocked down and they’re good at it, but we were trying to be pretty cute with some of those pucks and it slows your game down.”

The Jets actually scored the game’s opening goal, Matthias’ third of the year, early in the first period but trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes and 3-1 after two periods.

Matthias said his team put up a good battle against an sizzling Eastern Conference squad.

“They’re a good team. They’re hot right now, they’re confident but I don’t think we were totally outplayed or anything,” he said. “We made a few mistakes and we let up a little bit.”

Winnipeg shares New Years Eve with former captain Andrew Ladd and the New York Islanders on Saturday. Game time is 6 p.m. at MTS Centre.

The Jets then head south for a pair of games in Florida — Tuesday in Tampa Bay and Wednesday in Sunrise against the Panthers — before closing out the road trip on Saturday, Dec. 7 in Buffalo.

 

Good to go

Rookie right-winger Patrik Laine felt well enough to suit up against the red-hot Blue Jackets, despite leaving Wednesday’s practice early with an undisclosed ailment and then spending 20 minutes on the ice Thursday morning before the Jets’ pre-game skate, which he did not participate in.

The 18-year-old Finn didn’t hit the score sheet, and fired wide on a brilliant chance from the slot midway through the second period with the Blue Jackets leading by a pair.

His 19 goals still leads all NHL rookies, and he’s tied with Toronto centre Auston Matthews for most points (30) by a first-year player.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell