Scheifele’s hat trick propels Winnipeg Jets to 6-3 win over Panthers

Posted on November 19, 2024 by Peggy

Coming off back-to-back losses for the first time all season, the Winnipeg Jets improved to 16-3 Tuesday night thanks to a 6-3 victory over the Florida Panthers.

Neither team could find the back of the net as the first period rolled before Winnipeg got on the board thanks to their leading scorer.

A loose puck in the Florida end was corralled by Kyle Conner in the slot before the sniper outwaited Sergei Bobrovsky and roofed a backhand shot for his 12th of the season at the 14:13 mark.

A few minutes later, Winnipeg’s top line put in a dominant shit in the Panthers’ end and the crowd roared with delight before the Panthers briefly cleared it but the Jets weren’t done. Josh Morrissey got the puck up the ice to Gabriel Vilardi who dropped it to Mark Scheifele, and he wired a wrister under the glove of Bobrovsky to make it 2-0.

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Winnipeg carried that lead into the second period despite getting outshot 8-5 in the first.

The Jets got a golden opportunity to expand their lead on a rare two-minute 5-on-3 just over four minutes into the second. Uvis Balinskis tripped Scheifele and before the Panthers touched the puck, Evan Rodrigues roughed Dylan DeMelo, but Winnipeg couldn’t cash in, unable to get anything dangerous on goal.

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The Jets killed off a penalty of their own before earning another power play chance and this time, they made no mistake.

The top unit looked more crisp on this opportunity, culminating in a great play by Nikolaj Ehlers as he patiently held the puck and skated up the zone before zipping a perfect cross-ice pass that Scheifele blasted home to make it 3-0 at the 15:41 mark.

Before the period expired, Florida got on the board thanks to a lucky break. A point shot from A.J. Greer was going wide but it deflected off a stick in the slot before ricocheting off the skate of Adam Lowry and into an open net.

Winnipeg outshot Florida 11-7 in the second and carried a 16-15 edge into the third.

After each team hit a post in the opening six minutes of the third, Florida got their second power play of the night and they made good on it. The Panthers held the puck in the Winnipeg end for almost 90 seconds after Cole Perfetti went off for hooking, earning a few good looks before Matthew Tkachuk fed Sam Reinhart in front of the net and he buried it to make it 3-2.

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Just 30 seconds later, Winnipeg got a power play look of their own and while the top unit couldn’t score despite having the puck in Florida’s end for the full two minutes, they did cash in just six seconds after the penalty expired.

Other than Eetu Luostarinen coming out of the box, everyone on the ice was exhausted but Connor found enough in the tank to take a pass in the corner and drive it towards the net before seaming a pass to Scheifele back-door that he knocked home to make it 4-2, securing his ninth career hat trick.

Florida went back on the man advantage with 4:04 to go and Paul Maurice decided to pull Bobrovsky to make it a 6-on-4. The move paid off as a shot from Tkachuk on the half-wall beat Connor Hellebuyck through a maze of bodies with 3:22 remaining.

Winnipeg took another penalty with 2:15 left and again the Panthers pulled the goalie to make it a 6-on-4 but this time the Jets got the puck and Morgan Barron banked a shot off the boards from his own end, scoring into the empty net to make it 5-3 with 1:37 to go.

The Panthers kept Bobrovsky on the bench and Barron added another empty netter just 21 seconds after his first.

Hellebuyck picked up the win in goal, turning aside 20 of 23 shots.

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The Jets now embark on a six-game road trip starting Friday in Pittsburgh.