Adam Lowry Postgame The 43-19-5 Winnipeg Jets rolled into Columbus for a test against the 22-34-11 Blue Jackets on Sunday evening, and flew out with a commanding 6-1 victory to open their five-game road trip. Winnipeg has now scored 12 goals in its past six periods of hockey and has won two-straight games. The Jets were actually outshot by the hosts, but it was a stellar bounce-back performance from Connor Hellebuyck that got the job done - as opposed to the measly 21 save on 27 shot outing from Elvis Merzlikins Sean Monahan, Tyler Toffoli and Nikolaj Ehlers each recorded multi-point outings for Winnipeg, which moved back into a three-way tie with Dallas and Colorado for first place in the ultra-competitive Central Division. Things went Winnipeg's way basically from the get-go, as Kyle Connor scored his 29th of the season just 1:26 into the contest on a nifty passing play from linemate Mark Scheifele. The team's second line struck gold on back-to-back markers as Ehlers, Toffoli and Monahan connected twice in the first half of the second period, making it 3-0 with half a game left to be played. Then it was a Logan Stanley rocket that made it 4-0 two minutes after Toffoli's third goal in his past two games. The marker was Stanley's first of the season in game No. 16 for the big man. Vlad Namestnikov wrapped up the wild second period for Winnipeg with his ninth of the year. Tyle Toffoli got his second of the game, fourth in the past two games and 30th of the season on a breakaway late in the final frame. Brendan Guance broke Hellebuyck's bid for a shutout, but the Jets' netminder bounced back to finish off the Jackets on the remaining pucks he faced. He finished the night with 30 saves. Next up for the Jets is stop No. 2 of the five-game road trip through the Eastern Conference in New York on Tuesday. The game will feature the first place clubs in both the Central and Metropolitan Divisions. Puck drop is set for 6:00 PM central time.
