Jets shut out Blue Jackets for 7th straight win

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets won their seventh in a row and extended their point streak to 13 games with a 5-0 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday.

Cole Perfetti had two goals and an assist, and Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for his second shutout of the season for the Jets (27-9-4), whose last regulation loss came Dec. 12 against the San Jose Sharks.

“I think everyone in this room is just really focused on winning,” 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.”

Winnipeg has allowed two goals or fewer in 10 straight games and is on a 30-game streak of allowing three or fewer, the sixth-longest in NHL history.

“This is the grinding part of the year,” Jets defenseman 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.”

Daniil Tarasov made 18 saves for the Blue Jackets (13-20-9), who have lost seven of nine (2-3-4).

“That’s a team that’s going for the Cup, and that’s a team that we’re striving to be like,” Columbus forward 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.”

Dillon gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 3:12 of the first period, finishing a 3-on-2 rush.

Perfetti extended his goal streak to three games when he scored off a feed from Dylan Samberg at 10:50 of the second period to make it 2-0.

“He’s been moving the puck really well and seeing the ice really well,” Perfetti said of Samberg. “That’s a great play to activate from down the wall. … He fed it through a little hole there and it was a great pass. That was awesome.”

Josh Morrissey extended it to 3-0 at 14:03 with a slap shot from the top of the circle.

Perfetti’s second goal made it 4-0 at 3:34 of the third period when he created a turnover and scored with a wrist shot from the right circle.

Gabriel Vilardi scored a power-play goal at 9:29 for the 5-0 final.

“[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.”

Winnipeg center Mark Scheifele left the game in the third period after a Morrissey point shot deflected off Columbus defenseman Emil Bemstrom and caught Scheifele on the side of the head.

Scheifele received stitches on his ear, but Jets coach Rick Bowness had no further update on his status.

NOTES: The seventh straight win ties the longest win streak in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history, (March 26-April 8, 2017). … Winnipeg is the sixth team in NHL history to allow three or fewer goals in 30 consecutive games (single season), joining the Boston Bruins (44 games from Nov. 15, 1928-March 16, 1929); Minnesota Wild (35 from Jan. 27-April 9, 2015); New York Americans (34 from Dec. 9, 1928-March 12, 1929); Toronto Maple Leafs (33 from Jan. 9-March 25, 1951); and the Detroit Red Wings (31 from Nov. 6, 1952-Jan. 18, 1953). … It was Perfetti’s first multigoal game in the NHL. He has four goals during the three-game streak. … Columbus was shut out for the third time this season.