Labatt Blue What We Learned: CBJ 5, WPG 3

Before the puck dropped at MTS Centre tonight, Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said he had concerns about how his team would perform.
Granted, it took them a little while to get going, but once the visitors got their footing it was a downhill sled to the finish line.
After shaking off an early Winnipeg goal, the Blue Jackets scored the next four and took a commanding lead, holding on down the stretch to win 5-3, their 14th consecutive victory and moving them to 25-5-4 on the season.

You would have been smart to categorize this game as a challenge for the Blue Jackets; the Jets knew what they had coming into their building tonight, and in addition, they'd been playing much better hockey in their own right. They really wanted to be the team that ended the Blue Jackets' winning streak, but the Blue Jackets wanted no part of it.
Brandon Saad scored a big goal midway through the first period to pull Columbus into a 1-1 tie, a goal that mitigated an early push by Winnipeg that put the Blue Jackets back on their heels. Special teams again played a part, as the Blue Jackets scored twice on the power play to widen their lead in the second and third period.
They will head into St. Paul on Saturday night ready for a tangle with the NHL's other hottest team, the Minnesota Wild, who won their 12th straight game on the same night. That game on Saturday marks the first time in NHL history that two teams with active win streaks of seven games or more will meet on the same sheet of ice.

What a way to ring in 2017.
Here's what we learned:
WEATHER THE STORM: As mentioned above, the Jets desperately wanted to be the team that ended the Blue Jackets' winning streak. They spoke about it this morning, about making their home ice the place where the 13-game streak came to a halt, and the Blue Jackets absolutely knew an early push was coming from the Jets. Winnipeg scored first and had the first seven shots of the game, but Saad's goal settled things down and allowed Columbus to get into the game.
"It was a good road game," Foligno said. "That's a good team, and they play extremely well at home. We found our legs (in the first period) and got going. I was proud of our guys. For the most part, every guy played really well for us to get the win. We found ways to get back into it."

SPECIAL TEAMS CASH IN: Late in the first period and again in the second period, the Blue Jackets used their power play to take control of the game. Foligno scored a goal off his backside (courtesy of a Zach Werenski point shot) late in the first period to make it 2-1 for Columbus, and after a Wennberg goal at even strength early in the second, Wennberg struck again on the power play to make it a 4-1 game. The Jets left him alone on the half wall in a 4-on-3 situation, and Wennberg assertively walked to the net and beat Jets goaltender Michael Hutchinson under the crossbar.
"He's a playmaker," Saad said of Wennberg. "He's a lot of fun to play with."
"That's a huge goal for us to start the third period," Tortorella said. "It was an inconsistent game by both teams, but we found our way and certainly our power play helped us."

SEE YOU SATURDAY: Some form of history will meet its end on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center. The Blue Jackets and their head coach prefer not to worry about the hype, the theater around a game between two lengthy active winning streaks; instead, they want to focus on the next game on their calendar and approach it as they have every single game so far this season. Is it boring? Absolutely. Is it bad for building drama? You bet. But it works for the Blue Jackets and they don't plan on changing anything about how they tackle the task at hand.
"That's your (the media's) hype," Tortorella said. "The hype in our room is trying to be as business-like as we can, and try to be the best we can be every day."