Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Panthers Strike Jets

     The Florida Panthers outpaced the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 on Tuesday night at Canada Centre. The Panthers finished off a five-game road trip through western Canada and Seattle. 
     Former Panthers left wing Dave Lowry was a National Hockey League head coach in a contest against his former team for the first time. The Jets had not played a home game since December 19, a time span of 37 days. 
     Florida(29-9-5) raced out to a 1-0 lead at the 2:09 mark of the first period. Anton Lundell released a shot from the left wing and it was redirected in by Mason Marchment from the top of the crease past Connor Hellebuyck for his third tally of the year. 
     Winnipeg(17-15-7) made it 1-1 at 9:19. Adam Lowry backhanded a pass from the right corner to the left point. Brenden Dillion blasted a slap shot which was saved by Sergei Bobrovsky. Paul Stastny followed with a forehand shot from the low slot for his ninth goal this season. 
     The Panthers regained the lead 2-1 with 7:54 remaining in the first. Lucas Carlsson sent the puck around the boards from the red line. Sam Reinhart retrieved it on the right wing and made a backhand centering pass. Marchment snapped a shot from the high slot as he chalked up his second goal of the contest and fourth of the season. 
     The Jets evened it up 2-2 just 51 seconds later. Dylan Samberg fed a lead pass from his own blue line to Cole Perfetti at the Panthers blue line. He connected a diagonal pass from the left point to the right circle and Kyle Connor scored on a backhand shot from the right of the crease for his 23rd goal this season. It was Perfetti's first NHL assist and Samberg's second NHL assist on the play. 
     The Cats moved ahead 3-2 with 2:27 left in the period. Reinhart batted at a loose puck from the right goal line. Marchment took a wrist shot from the inner right circle and it went off the left knee of Anton Lundell on the edge of the blue paint into the Jets cage for his 10th goal. 
     In the second period, Winnipeg bounced back on a goal with the man advantage at 3:30 to tie it 3-3. Pierre-Luc Debois scored his 18th goal from close range on assists from Perfetti and Nate Schmidt.  
     Florida got the lead for the fourth time of the game at the 9:42 mark. Aleksander Barkov raced through the right circle and had his backhand shot stopped. Aaron Ekblad pounded a slap shot from the high slot which was saved, but Carter Verhaeghe tapped the puck in from the right of the crease for his 15th goal this season. Barkov ended up getting his 500th career point on the secondary assist. 
     The Panthers increased it to 5-3 with 7:50 to go in the third period. Ekblad forwarded the puck from the Florida zone to Anthony Duclair in the neutral zone. He skated into the right circle and took a snap shot. It was saved and Sam Bennett pounced on the rebound from the top of the crease for his 18th goal of the season. 

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