Carter Verhaeghe wasted no time putting Florida in front Tuesday night, and the Panthers never let Winnipeg get comfortable after that.
Verhaeghe scored twice on the power play, Matthew Tkachuk piled up four assists, and Florida rolled to a 5-1 win over the Jets in Winnipeg. The Panthers were sharp with the man advantage all night, going 3-for-5, while Akira Schmid backed the result with 24 saves.
Florida also got a goal and two assists from Brady Tkachuk, plus a goal and an assist from Niko Mikkola. Sam Reinhart added the other Panthers goal, and defenseman Seth Jones chipped in three assists.
The Jets, meanwhile, kept sliding. Adam Lowry scored their only goal, Clay Stevenson stopped 19 shots, and Winnipeg dropped its sixth straight, falling to 0-4-2 in that stretch.
Florida set the tone immediately with a three-goal first period. Verhaeghe opened the scoring at 7:27 on a power play, stepping out from below the goal line to the left of the net before slipping in a backhand. Then, just 1:15 later, Mikkola’s shot from the left circle deflected in off Winnipeg defenseman Mario Ferraro to make it 2-0.
Verhaeghe struck again before the period was over, burying a one-timer from the high slot with 9:42 left in the opening frame to push the Panthers ahead 3-0.
Winnipeg finally answered in the second. With 7:33 left in the period, Lowry capitalized on a giveaway by Schmid at the left side of the net, circling behind for a wrap-around that barely crossed the line. The call stood after officials in Toronto reviewed it.
That only briefly slowed Florida down. Forty-seven seconds later, Reinhart restored the three-goal cushion with a power-play one-timer from the slot.
Brady Tkachuk finished the scoring with 7:50 left, tipping in a pass from Matthew Tkachuk.
The teams meet again on Friday, when the Panthers host in Sunshine, Fla. The Jets will be on the second half of back-to-back games, with a visit to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
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