WINNIPEG — Carter Verhaeghe scored twice and Matthew Tkachuk chipped in with four assists to lead the Florida Panthers to a 5-1 victory over the struggling Winnipeg Jets in front of 14,336 at Canada Life Centre Tuesday night.
Brady Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, Niko Mikkola had a goal and assist, and Sam Reinhart rounded out the scoring for Florida (7-4-2), which scored three times on the power play. The Panthers salvaged their four-game road trip with a pair of wins after opening with back-to-back defeats. Seth Jones collected three assists in the victory.
Akira Schmid made 24 saves to earn the win — the fourth victory in his last five starts for the Panthers.
Adam Lowry scored the lone goal for Winnipeg (4-5-3), his second of the season and first short-handed.
The Jets extended their losing streak to six games, with defeats in seven of the last eight, and Lowry didn’t hide his disappointment with his team’s play during the skid.
“A lot of shooting ourselves in the foot right now,” Lowry said post-game.
“We’re frustrated,” Lowry added. “We expect more out of ourselves, we expect more out of the team, and we’re not delivering the results.”
Head coach Scott Arniel also admitted that some changes to the lineup could be coming as he looks for a way to get the Jets out of this slump.
“I’m going to start to work my way towards something,” Arniel told reporters. “Guys are playing themselves up, some guys are playing themselves down.”
The Jets’ next chance to get back in the win column will be on Thursday when they head to Tampa to take on the Lightning.
TAKEAWAYS
Jets: Since opening the season 4-1-1, the Jets are 0-4-2. The power play has gone stale, with Winnipeg 0-for-14 over their last five games, and a dismal 2-for-18 on home ice.
Panthers: Florida scored three times by the 10:18 mark of the first period, forcing Winnipeg to play from behind for most of the game. The Tkachuk brothers have combined for 35 points in the first 13 games this season.
KEY MOMENT
Reinhart one-timed a Brady Tkachuk pass over the shoulder of Stevenson and under the crossbar to earn Florida its third power-play goal of the night, giving the Panthers a commanding 4-1 lead. The Jets have scored more than three goals just once this season — a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 13.
KEY STAT
The Panthers went 3-for-5 on the power play, giving them 13 goals with the man-advantage in the last eight games.
— With files from Sportsnet Staff
