WINNIPEG -- Hockey's hottest team is skating closer to history while showing no signs of slowing down.

The Columbus Blue Jackets won their 14th straight game Thursday night, downing the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 at the MTS Centre. Columbus, which is an NHL-best 25-5-4, hasn't tasted defeat since a Nov. 26 shootout loss to Florida. Its last regulation loss came Nov. 23 against Calgary.

It's been an incredible turnaround from a team that finished 27th overall in the league last season. The Blue Jackets are three wins short of tying Pittsburgh's all-time NHL record of 17 consecutive victories set during the 1992-93 season entering Saturday's showdown in Minnesota against the Wild, who've won 12 straight.

"The streak is great, great for our fans and great for the league to talk about and the media. But for us, I'm just proud that we're putting our best foot forward every night," Columbus captain Nick Foligno said following the latest triumph. "Finding a way to win even if we're not at our best. But ultimately going out there and doing what we need to do to get wins.

"That's something that's lacked unfortunately in this organization, so it's nice for us to start feeling that and recognize expecting to win and going into games not knowing. I think you're starting to see a team that's understanding that we expect to win if we play a certain way."

Foligno led the way offensively with a goal and two assists while Alexander Wennberg scored twice. Sergei Bobrovsky won his league-best 23rd game in stopping 31 of 34 shots he faced.

The Jets (17-18-3) entered play feeling good about their game, having won four of their previous five including an impressive 3-1 decision in Chicago on Tuesday night, which several players called one of their most complete efforts of the year.

But Winnipeg was unable to carry that momentum over to Columbus. Thursday's Blue Jackets victory looked like many of their others -- contributions from four balanced scoring lines, a top-ranked power-play unit, outstanding goaltending from Bobrovsky and plenty of physical play.

"You can see why they are where they are,'' Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. "They skate really well and they know their game. We knew what was coming, we knew what they were going to bring and they brought it. You gotta give them respect for the way they played."

Winnipeg came out with a clear mandate to get pucks to the Columbus net early and often. The offensive blitz paid off 2:36 into the game when Jacob Trouba's point shot was deflected by Shawn Matthias over a screened Bobrovsky to give the Jets a quick lead. At that point, Winnipeg was outshooting Columbus 6-0.

The Blue Jackets didn't panic and soon began taking the play to the Jets, tying the game at 7:55. Brandon Saad took advantage of a mishandled puck by goalie Michael Hutchinson and put home the rebound.

Columbus struck again late in the period as their top-ranked power play needed only four seconds against the 28th-ranked penalty kill to make it a 2-1 game. Foligno tipped a shot for his 12th goal of the season.

Columbus added to its lead midway through the second period in controversial fashion. Wennberg fired a puck into an empty net after Hutchinson was knocked down by Foligno in his crease. Winnipeg challenged for goalie interference, but the goal was upheld when replays showed Foligno was pushed into Hutchinson by Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom.

Things went from bad to worse for the Jets late in the middle period as a pair of forwards went down with injuries. Marko Dano crashed into the boards and had to be helped off the ice, and moments later, teammate Mathieu Perreault was in obvious distress after blocking a shot. Both players went to the dressing room without putting any weight on their left legs. Perreault eventually returned, but Dano is expected to miss significant time.

Wennberg scored his second of the game on a power play 45 seconds into the final frame to make it 4-1.

Brian Little made it a bit more respectable when he scored on a pretty tic-tac-toe play with 13:31 left. Lukas Sedlak restored the three-goal lead late in the period off a dandy deflection to beat Hutchinson. Perreault finished off the scoring with a power-play marker.

"It was an inconsistent game by both teams, but I thought we found our way. Certainly our power play helped us," said Columbus coach John Tortorella, who added that his players aren't getting caught up in counting victories.

"There's not a lot of hype in our room as far as the number of games,'' he said. "The hype in our room is trying to be as businesslike as we can and try to be the best we can be each and every day. We don't talk about numbers that much at all."

Jets forward Brian Little said the Blue Jackets are for real.

"I just think they don't let up,'' Little said. "No matter what the situation is in the game, they're coming at you. It seems like they really capitalized on their opportunities and are good around the net. They make you pay in a lot of different ways, whether it's on the power play or just getting traffic to the net."

NOTES: The next goal by Winnipeg rookie Patrik Laine will be a costly one for the organization. The 18-year-old has a contract bonus of $212,500 for hitting the 20-goal mark. He came close to the milestone Tuesday night, hitting the post on an empty Chicago net. ... Winnipeg came into Thursday's game having won two in a row on seven occasions, but failed in their attempt to make it three in a row every time. ... Thursday was the first meeting of the season. They play again April 6 in Columbus. ... The Jets' scratches were C Alex Burmistrov, RW Chris Thorburn and D Mark Stuart. ... The Blue Jackets sat LW Markus Hannikainen, D Scott Harrington and D Dalton Prout.