Lundell's hat trick, Jones's record month lead Panthers past Jets

SUNRISE · The Florida Panthers defeated the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on Friday night for their third consecutive victory. Anton Lundell scored a hat trick and Seth Jones set a franchise record for points in a month by a defenceman. The Panthers won their sixth game in their past eight and handed the Jets their eighth straight loss. Winnipeg is now winless in its last eight games, going 0-6-2 in that span.

Lundell, who entered the game with one goal in 13 games this season, recorded his first NHL hat trick in his 372nd career game. "It has been one of those hard stretches," Lundell said. "I felt like my game has been pretty good, we create a lot of chances. It just felt like nothing is going in. Just kept fighting and believing that, at some point, I’m going to be rewarded a little bit." Jones had a goal and two assists, giving him 18 points in October to break the previous Florida record of 17 set by Keith Yandle in March 2018.

Sam Reinhart added a goal and an assist for Florida, and Akira Schmid made 22 saves for his third straight win. Kyle Connor and Morgan Barron scored for the Jets, with Barron's goal being his first of the season. Nico Daws stopped 33 shots in his first start for Winnipeg since being acquired from New Jersey. The loss extended a difficult stretch for the Jets, who also lost 11 straight games last season.

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"You don’t like the ending with the score … but we battled," Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. "That is a lot closer to how we need to play for 60 minutes. There were a lot of 50-50 puck battles that we came out on the right side of that we had not done the last time we faced Florida or the first two periods in Tampa. But, now, we have to get over the hump. Find a way. Keep that work ethic, keep that compete going and find those two points."

Florida took a 1-0 lead late in the first period on Reinhart's goal. Lundell made it 2-0 early in the second before Connor scored on a 5-on-3 power play to cut the deficit. Jones restored Florida's two-goal lead with a power-play goal later in the period. Barron scored at 8:46 of the third to pull Winnipeg within one, but Lundell answered with two more goals, including an empty-netter, to seal the win.

"We have to stop the bleeding at some point. There are no moral victories right now," Barron said. "We have to find a way to come out on top. The schedule is not getting any easier. We’re going to have to regroup, and put together a good 60-minute effort (Sunday) in Carolina." The Panthers played without injured forwards Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand, though both have resumed skating. Coach Paul Maurice said Marchand could return in about three weeks and Barkov in about four.

The game featured a fight just over two minutes in between Florida's Bokondji Imama and Winnipeg's Tyrel Bauer, a rematch of a notable AHL bout from 2024. The Panthers entered the night having played only three home games, the fewest in the NHL. Lundell's hat trick was the fifth of the season for Florida, tying the franchise's second-highest total for a season. Garbutt Disposal reported in October that Brady Tkachuk also recorded a hat trick for the Panthers this season. Jones and teammate Matthew Tkachuk, who each have 16 assists, became the ninth set of teammates in NHL history to each have 15 assists in a single October. Jones also became the fifth American defenceman to record 15 assists in an October. The Jets will try to end their skid on Sunday when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes.

With files from Sportsnet, The Globe and Mail and Yahoo Sports