Jets Pay Back Panthers

     The Winnipeg Jets gained revenge on the Florida Panthers 6-3 with a Mark Scheifele hat trick at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday night. Both teams faced each other just three days ago in South Florida during this home-and-home situation. 

     It is the beginning of a short two-game road trip for the Cats. The Jets were able to snap a two-game losing streak. 

     Winnipeg(16-3-0) raced out to a 1-0 lead with 5:47 left in the first period. Kyle Connor skated in though the slot and roofed a backhand shot past Sergei Bobrovsky for his 12th goal of the season. 

     The Jets extended their lead to 2-0 with 2:40 to go in the first. Josh Morrissey pushed the puck ahead from the neutral zone. Gabe Vilardi made a drop pass from the left wing. Scheifele placed in a wrist shot from the top left circle for his 10th goal of the campaign. 

     In the second period, Winnipeg made it 3-0 on the power play with 4:19 remaining. Morrissey angled a pass from the top of the zone and Nikolaj Ehlers connected a pass from the right circle. Scheifele collected his second goal of the contest and 13th tally this season when he snapped a shot from the left circle. 

     Florida(12-6-1) broke the shutout with 2:36 left in the period. Tomas Nosek cycled the puck from the end wall and Nate Schmidt passed from the right wing. A.J. Greer released a wrist shot from the top of the zone that went through traffic and by Connor Hellebuyck for his second goal in a Panthers uniform. 

     The Panthers scored with the man advantage at the 7:10 mark of the third period and closed it to 3-2. Aleksander Barkov moved the puck from the top right circle and Matthew Tkachuk made a touch pass from the right goal line. Sam Reinhart put in a forehand shot from the inner right circle for his 14th goal of the season. 

     The Jets made it a two-goal margin again 4-2 at 9:46. Ehlers zipped a pass from the right point down low. Connor centered the puck from the right goal line and Scheifele one-timed a shot from the left of the crease for his third goal of the game and 12th goal this season. 

     The Cats pulled their goalie for an extra attacker on the power play and scored with 3:22 left in the third. Carter Verhaeghe angled a pass from the left wing. Sam Bennett was able to pass from the end wall. Tkachuk released a wrist shot from the right wing for his fifth goal in 2024-25. 

     The game was put away by Winnipeg with 1:37 to go in the contest. Morgan Barron chalked up a shorthanded goal into an empty net as he banked a shot off the side boards from his own zone. He picked up another empty-net tally from his own blue line with 1:16 left for his second goal of the season.