East-leading Panthers beat Jets 6-1, win streak at 9 games

Winnipeg Jets left wing Kyle Connor (81) and Florida Panthers left wing Anthony Duclair (10) battle for the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, April 15, 2022, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)

Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves, Jonathan Huberdeau and Gustav Forsling each scored twice and the Florida Panthers won their ninth straight game, beating the Winnipeg Jets 6-1 on Friday night.

Huberdeau, who also picked up an assist, had two goals in the first five minutes. He has 30 goals this season, and extended his career-best points streak to 13 games, joining Mike Hoffman (17 in 2018-19) and Pavel Bure (13 in 1999-2000) as the only Panthers to have point streaks of 13 or more games.

Mason Marchment and Maxim Mamin also scored, and Claude Giroux had three assists for the Eastern Conference-leading Panthers, who have the longest active win streak in the NHL. Florida has 112 points, two behind Colorado in the race for the most in the NHL. Both teams have eight games remaining.

Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck allowed four goals on 26 shots before being replaced by Eric Comrie at the start of the third period. Comrie had 15 stops.

Ehlers goal 1:07 into the third period cut Florida's lead to 4-1, but the Panthers answered less than a minute later with a goal by Marchment to make it 5-1. Mamin's goal with 13 minutes left made it 6-1.

Forsling stretched the Panthers lead to 3-0 on his first goal 2:56 of the second. Forsling had just exited the penalty box when he grabbed the puck, skated in and backhanded the puck past Hellebuyck.

Forsling's second tally, from the high slot on a pass from Huberdeau, extended the lead to 4-0 with 3:39 left in the second.

Huberdeau's first goal gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead 2:03 in. Giroux's shot from the high slot ricocheted off the board and in front to Huberdeau, who flipped the puck into the net.

The Panthers took a 2-0 lead when Huberdeau took a pass from Giroux on the right side and slid the puck under Hellebuyck's pad at 4:47 of the first.

Huberdeau became the third Florida player to reach the 30-goal mark this season, joining Aleksander Barkov and Anthony Duclair.

It's the second time a Panthers team has had three 30-goal scorers, after Barkov, Huberdeau and Mike Hoffman reached the mark in 2018-19. Florida could have five by the time the season ends, with Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett having legitimate chances of reaching 30 goals, too.