National Hockey League
Columbus 5, Winnipeg 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Where: Bell MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Referees: Steve Kozari, Pierre Lambert
Linesmen: Bryan Pancich, Mark Wheler
Attendance: 15321

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- If the Tuesday game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Winnipeg Jets were a UFC match, the home side would have tapped out and everybody could have gone home before the second period was over.

The Blue Jackets smothered the home squad at every opportunity in a dominant 5-2 victory over the Jets.

It's safe to say Columbus coach John Tortorella wants the game film.

"We're going to have a number of clips (to show the team later in the season) with our reloading and checking, checking with our legs, not gliding or reaching," he said. "I thought tonight was probably our best game of the season, our most consistent game, and we got rewarded."

The Blue Jackets (5-1-0) got goals from Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Jack Johnson, Lukas Sedlak and Zach Werenski in posting their fourth consecutive victory.

Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped 24 of 26 shots to post his first win of the season, giving last year's Vezina Trophy winner, Sergei Bobrovsky, the night off.

The Jets (3-3-0) replied with goals from Kyle Connor and Joel Armia, but perhaps the biggest story was the continuing underperformance by starting goalie Steve Mason. He stopped just 34 of 39 shots after watching teammate Connor Hellebuyck win three consecutive games in the past week. Mason was shelled in the first two games of the season, giving up 11 goals.

Blue Jackets captain Foligno, who put his team up 2-0 after breaking in alone on Mason and undressing him with a highlight-reel deke, echoed his coach's sentiment.

"I liked our game all the way through," he said. "We played to our identity. We got pucks behind them, we reloaded really hard and played hard down low and were rewarded for it.

"You have to be (relentless with the Jets). When that team starts freewheeling and making plays, they're dangerous. If you look at their front end and even their back end, they can make you pay. We knew we had to be big bodies on them and be constantly around them to disrupt things. We had a commitment to checking tonight, which is really important for our club."

Johnson, who netted the winner into a virtually empty net at 13:54 of the second period following a stickhandling clinic by Brandon Dubinsky down low in the Jets' end, said it is important to stockpile as many points as possible in October and November.

"You can't make the playoffs early in the season, but you can dig yourself right out of them," he said. "By (American) Thanksgiving, the teams that are at the top are usually the teams that are in the playoffs at the end of the year."

He empathized with the Jets, though.

"It might have been one of those nights for them," he said. "I've been on the other end of those where it just seems like nothing is going right, the other team is always on top of you and there's nobody to give the puck to. They usually are a very fast team.

"I don't think we've had a complete game (like this) since our first game of the season. It doesn't matter how you win as long as you win."

Jets coach Paul Maurice said there was no question that his troops were outworked by the Blue Jackets. The fact that the Jets were only able to garner one power play -- and late in the third period at that -- was testament to the effort his team put forth.

"The game is really simple, but it's really hard," Maurice said. "And if you're not going to play it simply, then you really gotta play hard. And if you don't do either, then you're going to have a night that looks just like that. We don't want to shoot the puck because (we) have to go get it back if it doesn't go in the net. And we didn't skate hard enough to give ourselves a chance to even battle on some pucks. So we're missing the two key ingredients to the game of hockey.

"The game of hockey is also very fair. There's a handful of nights you think you deserve a better fate or you get lucky, but for the most part, you get what you earned. And we earned that one. You don't skate, you can't play."

Mason, who made a number of good saves in the first period, wasn't able to stem the tide in the second, when he was hung out to dry a number of times.

"Anytime you give up four in one period, it's usually not a good sign. It wasn't good," he said.

The Jets host the Minnesota Wild on Friday. The Blue Jackets fly home to play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

NOTES: The Jets added one more to the infirmary Tuesday morning when C Adam Lowry was put on injured reserve and F Brendan Lemieux was called up from the Manitoba Moose. ... The Blue Jackets started the season with 10 points in their first six games for the first time in franchise history. ... Jets coach Paul Maurice is one victory shy of 600 in his career, placing him 17th all-time. ... Jets G Steve Mason got his start with Columbus a decade ago and had 19 shutouts, second most in team history.
Top Game Performances
 
Columbus   Winnipeg
Cam Atkinson 1 Points Joel Armia 1
Cam Atkinson 1 Goals Joel Armia 1
Josh Anderson 1 Assists Dustin Byfuglien 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals Joel Armia 1
Joonas Korpisalo .923 Save Percentage Steve Mason .872
Joonas Korpisalo 24 Saves Steve Mason 34
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Columbus 39 5 0-3 1-1 2 20
Winnipeg 26 2 0-1 3-3 6 37
Upcoming Games
  • Winnipeg will play their next game at home against Minnesota. The Jets have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .333 after a loss.
  • Columbus will play their next game at home against Tampa Bay. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .800 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.