Take Off, Eh: Florida Panthers Unload on Winnipeg Jets

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers had a rough couple of games this week and took out their frustrations on the Winnipeg Jets.

And, it was a night where frustrations spilled out all over the ice.

The Panthers came out ready to play Saturday, beating the NHL’s top team thus far in just about every metric and rolled to a 5-0 win that deteriorated into a penalty-fest in the second half of the third.

Winnipeg, the first NHL team to win 15 of its first 16 games, has lost its past two on this Florida trip.

The Panthers and Jets meet up again Tuesday in Winnipeg.

Florida opened things up with a Mackie Samoskevich goal before opening things up with three goals in the second.

Sergei Bobrovsky, who finished third in Vezina voting to Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, was terrific on Saturday and made 27 saves in his first shutout since Game 21 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Florida got a goal and two assists from Sasha Barkov, as well as goals from Samoskevich, Nate Schmidt, and Evan Rodrigues.

Sam Reinhart had three assists, and Gus Forsling had two.

It was Schmidt’s first game against the team which bought him out in June.

In the third, with the Panthers up 5-0, three Winnipeg players were tossed with two Florida players (Sam Bennett and A.J. Greer) joining them.

Paul Maurice had been 0-3-1 against the Jets as coach of the Panthers before Saturday night’s blowout.

HOW THEY SCORED

• Panthers 1, Jets 0 (14:59 1st): Gus Forsling throws a shot toward the net from the left circle and it pops off a charging Mackie Samoskevich and past Connor Hellebuyck.
• Panthers 2, Jets 0 (2:07 2nd): Nate Schmidt reacquaints himself with the Jets, hammering home a rebound off a Sam Bennett backhanded shot.
• Panthers 3, Jets 0 (12:21 2nd): Sasha Barkov’s shot from the slot goes off Hellebuyck and Evan Rodrigues is right in front of the net to cash in.
• Panthers 4, Jets 0 (14;36 2nd SH): Barkov forces a turnover while killing a penalty, sends it to Sam Reinhart who puts it off the crossbar on the rush. Barkov hops on the rebound and this one is a rout.
• Panthers 5, Jets 0 (3:23 3rd 4on4): Barkov works some more magic, finding the stick of Dmitry Kulikov in the left circle.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida
• 2. Sasha Barkov, Florida
• 3. Sam Reinhart, Florida

ON DECK: GAME 19

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT WINNIPEG JETS 

• When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Canada Life Center; Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/FTM)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last season: Winnipeg won 2-0
• This season — At Florida: Saturday. At Winnipeg: Tuesday.
• All-time regular season series: Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets lead 54-31-8, 5 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN+/Hulu ONLY)