Winnipeg Jets win keeps team on top

Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) celebrates his goal against the Florida Panthers during second period NHL action in Winnipeg, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade

Mark Scheifele recorded his ninth career hat trick to lead the Winnipeg Jets past the Florida Panthers 6-3 on Tuesday to end their two-game losing skid.

Kyle Connor had a goal and assist and Morgan Barron scored his first two goals of the season shorthanded into an empty net. Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers each added a pair of helpers in front of the third sellout of the season at Canada Life Centre.

Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves for Winnipeg (16-3-0), which was blanked 5-0 by the Panthers in Florida last Saturday.

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and assist. A.J. Greer and Sam Reinhart also scored for the reigning Stanley Cup-champion Panthers (12-6-1). Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 of 25 shots.

Connor used a turnover to skate toward the Panthers' net, cut around a defender and then roofed a backhand over Bobrovsky on the glove side for his 12th goal of the season that made it 1-0 at 14:13 of the first period.

Scheifele put away his 10th goal of the season just over three minutes later.

After Florida failed to capitalize on their first power play, the Jets quickly had another man advantage. Scheifele one-timed a pass from Ehlers to make it 3-0 at 15:41 of the second.

Greer got Florida on the board less than two minutes later, but the puck actually went off the skate of Jets captain Adam Lowry.

Reinhart's goal on the power play at 7:10 of the third period extended his point streak to 11 games with nine goals and eight assists. Aleksander Barkov picked up an assist to move his point streak to nine games with three goals and 14 assists.

Scheifele notched his third goal to go up 4-2, but the Panthers took advantage of a Jets' penalty and Tkachuk scored on a six-on-four at 16:38.

Barron finished off Winnipeg's scoring with his pair of goals 21 seconds apart with under a minute and a half remaining.

Takeaways

   Jets: Winnipeg rebounded from Florida's weekend shutout by often being a step faster than the visitors and pressured the Panthers in their zone.

   Panthers: Florida did well to kill off a Winnipeg five-on-three for two minutes early in the second period, but they hit posts a number of times.

Key moment

After the Panthers made it 3-2 on the power play at 7:10 of the third period, the Jets went on the power play and Scheifele scored his third goal six seconds after their own man advantage ended.

Key stat

   Winnipeg remains the top NHL club with 32 points.

Up next

   Jets: Begin a six-game road trip Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

   Panthers: Travel to Chicago to play the Blackhawks on Thursday.

 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2024.