Panthers Beat Jets 5-2 in Sunrise: Anton Lundell's First Hat Trick Powers Florida's Third Straight Win
Anton Lundell, who had one goal in 13 games entering Friday night, scored three times at Amerant Bank Arena as the Florida Panthers beat Winnipeg 5-2 and handed the Jets their eighth straight loss.
SUNRISE, Fla. - Anton Lundell picked a good night to break out. The Florida Panthers forward scored his first career hat trick on Friday night at Amerant Bank Arena, leading Florida to a 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets - the Panthers' third straight victory and the Jets' eighth straight loss.
Lundell entered the night with one goal in 13 games this season. He made it 2-0 early in the second period after his pass attempt on the rush was blocked and the puck came back to him for a wrist shot, then took the game over late: after Morgan Barron's first goal of the season pulled Winnipeg within 3-2 midway through the third period, Lundell's second goal restored Florida's two-goal edge, and he finished the hat trick with an empty-net goal with 1:39 remaining.
Sam Reinhart opened the scoring on the power play late in the first period and added an assist. Seth Jones had a goal and two assists and finished October with 18 points - two goals and 16 assists - the most by a Panthers defenseman in any month in franchise history. Goaltender Akira Schmid stopped 22 shots to win his third consecutive start, and Florida did it without standout forwards Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand, both out with injuries.
Kyle Connor scored on a 5-on-3 power play in the second period for Winnipeg, his team-best 11th goal, and Barron scored in the third. Nico Daws, acquired last week from New Jersey, stopped 33 of 37 shots in his first start for the Jets, who are 0-6-2 in their past eight games and fell to 4-7-3. Florida, now 8-4-2, has won six of its past eight - including both ends of this week's home-and-home with Winnipeg, after a 5-1 win in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
