Jets bounce Panthers 6-4 to earn first win of NHL regular season
Written by Philip Paul-MartinThe win was the first of the season for Winnipeg.
Mark Scheifele added a goal and an assist.
Josh Morrissey had a pair of assists for the Jets.
Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for Winnipeg, who evened their record at 1-1-0.
Evan Rodrigues two goals and an assist for the Panthers.
Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist.
Carter Verhaeghe scored the other Florida goal.
Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 29 shots for the Panthers, who dropped to 0-2-0 on the season.
Mark Scheifele got the Jets on the board 3:30 into the first on the power play when he took a Kyle Connor feed just inside the Panthers blue line before splitting the Panthers defence before beating Bobrovsky with a high wrister.
The goal was his second of the season.
With Brendan Dillon off for delay of game, Sam Reinhart tied the contest just 33 seconds into the ensuing power play at 17:03 when he tapped a puck past Hellebuyck at the goalmouth off a Evan Rodrigues feed from the high slot.
The goal was his first of the season.
Florida took the lead 25 seconds into the second period when Evan Rodrigues knocked a rebound off a Dmitry Kulikov point shot past Hellebuyck.
The goal was his first of the season.
Kyle Connor replied ten seconds later when he fired a Mark Scheifele feed from behind the net past Bobrovsky to knot the game at 2 at 35 seconds.
The goal was his second of the season.
Morgan Barron scored 8:20 into the second to give Winnipeg the lead when Rasmus Kupari got hold of the puck deep in the Florida end before working his way behind the the Panthers goal before circling back on his backhand before flipping Barron the puck.
Barron simply slipped the disc into the goal.
Dylan DeMelo made it 4-2 when he took a Cole Perfetti feed from the left corner and ripped a wrister from the high slot past Bobrovsky, beating him high blocker side to score his first of the season at 9:55.
Mason Appleton got Winnipeg's fifth goal of the game shorthanded at 14:17 of the third after converting a Lowry centering pass.
Lowry had the stick knocked out of his hands in the Jet zone before he kicked the disc ahead and had a stick handed to him by a teammate off the bench.
Lowry skated into the Florida end before feeding Appleton who kneaded a forehand through Bobrovsky's pads to sscore his first of the season.
Carter Verhaeghe scored with 3:29 remaining in the third to pull the Panthers to within two after Paul Maurice pulled his goaltender.
Aleksander Barkov scored at 17:36 after Sam Reinhart pulled up just over the Winnipeg blue line and hit him with a crisp pass.
Barkov beat Hellebuyck with a forty foot wrister to make it 5-4.
Tkachuk nearly tied it with about a minute and a half left in regulation when he hit the goalpost on a partial breakaway.
Kyle Connor added an empty netter with 1:10 to go to seal the win for the Jets, their first of the regular season.
Florida visits New Jersey Monday while Winnipeg hosts Los Angeles Tuesday.
SHOTS-FLORIDA 33 WINNIPEG 35
NOTES-The game was Jet defenceman Nate Schmidt's 600th NHL contest.
Ottawa shuts out Jets 3-0 as Winnipeg closes out NHL Pre-Season
Written by Philip Paul-MartinAnton Forsberg turned aside all 21 shots he faced to pick up the shutout for Ottawa, their second shutout win in a row.
The Senators moved to 6-1-0 in pre-season.
Claude Giroux, Josh Bailey and Jakob Chychrun scored for the Senators.
Jake Sanderson had a pair of assists.
Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 30 shots for Winnipeg, who closed out their pre-season with a 2-3-1 record.
Claude Giroux gave Ottawa the lead 16:58 into the opening stanza when he converted a Brady Tkachuk feed moving in alone on Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck before beating him with a slick backhand forehand deke before sliding the disc past him.
The goal was his second of the pre-season.
Josh Bailey made it 2-0 late in the second when he got a hold of the puck in the high slot before spinning and firing a low wrister past Hellebuyck, beating him glove side.
The goal was his first of the pre-season.
Jakob Chychrun scored on the power play just under halfway through third when he converted a Josh Bailey feed from behind the Winnipeg net, beating Hellebuyck with a high wrister at 10:28.
Jets Head Coach Rick Bowness thought his team lost discipline in a penalty filled third period.
"I don't know. All of a sudden we're getting called for hooking and holding and all of a sudden, those things that weren't there were there. I don't know. All of a sudden, they were getting called, everything, and they were legitimate calls. The referee saw it and I saw it so they were legitimate calls. I guess the answer to your question is that we lost our discipline more than anything. And then, I think, from that, a little frustration built in as the period went along and then it continued into taking more penalties."
Senators Head Coach D.J. Smith felt good about his team's effort on the night. "You know still too many penalties. In a row too, that really ruins the flow in the second period. But we came out really well, I thought we defended really well in our zone. We did enough to cut off odd man rushes. The effort was there."
"It's an exhibition game but I thought as a whole we played well," he added.
Ottawa hosts Montreal to wrap up their pre-season on Saturday. Winnipeg opens their regular season on October 11th in Calgary.
SHOTS-OTTAWA 33 WINNIPEG 21
NOTES-Jets D Ville Heinola went down late in the first period with a left leg injury after getting tangled up with Senators defenceman Erik Brannstrom and did not return.