Jets 5, Panthers 2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Winnipeg Jets halted a six-game winless skid at home with a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Friday night.
Five different players scored for the Jets (16-16-5), who hadn't won at the MTS Centre since a shootout decision over the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 15.
Right-wingers Michael Frolik and Blake Wheeler, left-winger Evander Kane and blueliners Jacob Trouba and Tobias Enstrom potted goals for Winnipeg, now 8-8-4 in its own building this season.
Centers Shawn Matthias and Nick Bjugstad replied for the Panthers, who trailed 3-1 and 5-2 at the period breaks.
Florida (14-18-5) had won five games in row, including road victories in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, prior to the stop in Winnipeg. The Panthers head home for five straight contests at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla.
The Jets, meanwhile, travel west for a pair of Western Conference battles as they face the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday and the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Winnipeg goalie Ondrej Pavelec wasn't particularly busy Friday night, stopping 21 shots for his first win in his last six starts.
Florida netminder Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves.
The Jets scored on a 4-on-4 situation and also on a pair of power plays to build a two-goal cushion after a wild first period that featured a fight and nine minor penalties between the former Southeast Division rivals.
Florida opened the scoring at 7:45 when Matthias batted in a loose puck for his fourth goal of the season. But that seemed to rouse the home side, which dominated the rest of the period.
Trouba notched just his second goal of the year when his centering pass hit defenseman Tom Gilbert's stick and bounced past Markstrom at 11:06.
The Jets power-play did some major damage as Enstrom blasted his third of the season with Winnipeg enjoying a 5-on-3 man advantage at 15:25. Just 32 seconds later, Wheeler's deflection of defenseman Zach Bogosian's shot from the point found the back of the net for another power-play marker. The goal was Wheeler's 12th.
Fans were still returning to their seats after the intermission when Kane finished off a two-on-one with Frolik and snapped a shot high past Markstrom, his ninth goal of the season, at 1:03 of the second period.
Bjugstad pulled Florida within a pair of goals at 5:55 with a rocket that Pavelec couldn't handle. The goal was the rookie center's seventh of the year and came unassisted after he jumped on an errant pass by Kane near the Jets blue line.
The Panthers maintained the pressure and had a few near misses, including center Marcel Goc's shot that clanked off the crossbar. But the Jets would increase their lead to 5-2 when Frolik buried his ninth on a rebound off left winger Andrew Ladd's shot at 17:53.
The final frame was scoreless, although Kane missed on a breakaway with about six minutes left and was robbed by Markstrom after he was left unattended in the low slot on the very same shift.
NOTES: Jets D Zach Bogosian returned to the lineup Friday after missing 15 games with a groin injury. ... Florida RW Brad Boyes netted his 35th and 36th career shootout goals last week and ranks first among active NHL players. He's just one up on Minnesota Wild LW Zach Parise and two ahead of RW Radim Vrbata of the Phoenix Coyotes. ... Veteran Winnipeg C Olli Jokinen played in 1,123 NHL games, just over half (567) with the Panthers from 2000-08. He led the team in scoring in five of the seven seasons he played in Florida. ... The Panthers' top two centers are still very young. C Aleksander Barkov is only 18, while C Nick Bjugstad is the elder statesman of the two at 21. ... Dead last for much of the season, the Jets' power play is now 27th in the NHL after some success the last two weeks. D Dustin Byfuglien leads the club with 12 power-play points.
