Panthers falter late in loss to Jets

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) -- Kyle Connor scored twice, Blake Wheeler and Tyler Myers each had three assists and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Florida Panthers 7-2 on Sunday night to take the Central Division lead.

Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Scheifele, Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault and Patrik Laine also scored and Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves to help the Jets win their third straight. They are 6-2-1 with a game left on a 10-game homestand.

Wheeler extended his points streak to five games. Scheifele has three goals and five assists during a four-game point roll.

Denis Malgin and Aleksander Barkov had power-play goals for Florida, and James Reimer stopped 27 shots. The Panthers had won three straight.

The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period and Winnipeg led 3-2 after two.

Winnipeg's run of killing off 16 straight penalties ended at 8:57 of the first period when Malgin's shot from the top of the right circle went high past Hellebuyck while Myers was in the box for tripping.

The Jets got their own power-play goal 13 seconds after Panthers defenseman Mark Pysyk was penalized for boarding. Wheeler threaded a pass through defenders across the front of the net for Connor, who quickly shot the puck into the net as Reimer was moving over at 12:06.

Ehlers gave Winnipeg the 2-1 lead when his shot hit a Florida stick, the puck went up in the air and then rolled off Reimer's back into the net at 4:39 of the second. It was his 23rd goal of the season.

Barkov was credited with his 20th after he got a piece of a shot Evgenii Dadonov swatted into the net 22 seconds after Jets forward Jack Roslovic was sent off for holding at 7:12.

A quick pass by Wheeler to Scheifele in the slot gave the Jets the 3-2 lead with 1:31 left in the second.

Connor scored his 21st goal in his rookie season on another pass from Wheeler into the slot at 3:38. Little notched his 13th less than three minutes later to make it 5-2. Perreault picked up his 16th, and Laine got his team-leading 27th with a backhand shot with 1:35 remaining.

UP NEXT

Panthers: At Toronto on Tuesday night.

Winnipeg: Hosts Los Angeles on Tuesday night.