Blue Jackets end homestand with loss to Jets

COLUMBUS -- Tyler Toffoli had two goals and an assist for the Winnipeg Jets, who scored four times in the second period of a 6-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Sunday.

Toffoli has five points (four goals, one assist) in four games since being acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Devils on March 8.

"We definitely talked about how we weren't happy with [the first period] and we had a lot of room to improve. Our line especially, I didn't think we were very good in the first period and we talked about it ourselves," Toffoli said. "Definitely good to see, and like I said, hopefully we can build off of it and keep moving forward."

Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist, and Sean Monahan had two assists for the Jets (43-19-5), who have won three of four. Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves.

“I don’t think it matters who we’re playing, we play the same way every night,” Winnipeg defenseman Logan Stanley said. “That’s what we talked about before the game.”

Brendan Gaunce scored, and Elvis Merzlikins made 21 saves for the Blue Jackets (23-34-11), who were coming off a 4-2 win against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

“They are really good and this is why they're a playoff team,” Merzlikins said. “They find those empty pockets, and when they get that chance, they just punish you. It was a tough one.”

Kyle Connor gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 1:26 of the first period, scoring with a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Mark Scheifele, who had skated around the net.

“We were loose in the first,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “We weren’t fooled by the score. We knew we had to tighten it up. We gave them too many chances off the rush, so we addressed that.”

Ehlers made it 2-0 at 1:10 of the second period, scoring his 20th goal from the edge of the left circle off a no-look backhand pass from Toffoli from along the end boards.

Toffoli then extended the lead to 3-0 at 9:45, and Stanley scored his first of the season on a slap shot from the left point to make it 4-0 at 12:00.

“I got my quota. One a year,” Stanley said. “No, it felt good to help the guys win. Everybody likes to score once in a while.”

Vladislav Namestnikov made it 5-0 at 18:24. He scored from the bottom of the left circle after Neal Pionk's point shot caromed to him off the end boards.

“The few things that we need to do well in order to be successful is we need to compete and skate,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “The second period, we just didn't push the pace like we usually do. And when you face a team like the Jets, it's a recipe for disaster.

“I think Winnipeg makes the other teams look bad in so many ways. They're heavy, they're strong, they have skills. Then you face Hellebuyck on top of that.”

Gaunce scored 39 seconds into the third period to make it 5-1.

“They came to play,” he said. “We had a pretty good first period. We kind of sat back in the second. Obviously, they showed why they are a good team.”

Toffoli scored his 30th goal of the season on a breakaway at 17:34 for the 6-1 final.

“I go into every year expecting to score 30 goals. For me to do it, obviously very proud,” he said. “Still 16 or however many games left. Hopefully I don’t stop.”

NOTES: Toffoli, who was plus-3, has five points (four goals, one assist) in his past two games. ... Monahan was plus-4. ... The Jets outscored the Blue Jackets 11-1 in their two games this season. ... Scheifele’s assist on Connor's goal was his 40th of the season. It is the sixth time he has had at least 40 assists, which is second in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history behind Blake Wheeler (eight). ... Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov played in his 600th NHL game. Defenseman Damon Severson played in his 700th.