In Winnipeg, the Jets made it seven straight in a 5-0 shutout of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves in the win.
“I think everyone in this room is just really focused on winning,” the Jets Cole Perfetti said. “There are no nights off in this league, and we know that. Obviously, being on top of the standings we’re going to get every team’s A-game. We can’t take a night off or a team jumps you in the conference or in the division.”
The Jets have an active 13-game point streak, Winnipeg improved to 27-9-4,
“This is the grinding part of the year,” the Jets’ Brenden Dillon said. “Guys are playing through stuff, which I think just shows the commitment we have to this team this year. Everyone is laying out, blocking shots, sacrificing ice time here or there, playing up and down the lineup. For our team as a whole, that’s what it is — we’re not focusing on who is scoring the goals or how we are getting it done. We are just finding different ways to win every night.”
The Jets took a 2-0 lead in the opening stanza.
Dillon scored at 3:12 for a 1-0 lead to the Jets.
Perfetti, who had a double on the night, pushed the advantage to 2-0 midway through the first.
Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey pushed the lead to 3-0 with a shot form high out at 14:03 of the first.
The Blue Jackets dropped to 13-20-9.
“That’s a team that’s going for the Cup, and that’s a team that we’re striving to be like,” Columbus’ Justin Danforth said. “They don’t make many mistakes on the ice. They clog the middle of the ice, they backcheck, forecheck our [defense], they finish hits, block shots. That’s probably one of the better teams we’ve played all year.”
Perfetti picked up his double at 3:34 of the third period off turnover.
Gabriel Vilardi ballooned the lead to the 5-0 final count with a power play marker midway through the third.
Daniil Tarasov made 18 saves in the loss.
“[Winnipeg’s] compete level, their structure, there’s no time, there’s no space,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. ”It’s not fancy. It’s really, really effective. They really collapse in front of their net, their forecheck is really good, but their tracking is really, really good.”
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