The first 40 minutes were fairly tame until Florida broke the ice with just 1:11 to play in the second period. The Panthers gained possession on a faceoff in the offensive zone, and Matthew Tkachuk found Sam Bennett open at the top of the left circle. Bennett put it over the shoulder of Connor Hellebuyck for his 18th of the campaign, with Tkachuk recording his first point of the season on the play.
After 40 minutes, the Jets had fired just twelve shots on goal in the past three periods, including the third period of their previous match, in which they scored just one goal (an empty-netter) on two shots.
At 5:24 of the third period, Jonathan Toews made a big play, stripping Uvis Balinskis of the puck before seeing Cole Perfetti cut toward the net. Perfetti beat Daniil Tarasov, who was sliding in the opposite direction, with his backhand for his fourth of the season, tying the match 1–1.
After 60 minutes, nothing was resolved and the two teams went to extra time.
Winnipeg’s best chance to end it came when Josh Morrissey, tying Dustin Byfuglien for most points by a defenseman in franchise history (416), charged through the middle of the ice and a shot rang off the crossbar. Overtime again solved nothing, sending the game into a shootout.
Anton Lundell scored in the first round, while Sam Reinhart ended it in the second after Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele couldn’t beat Tarasov, giving Florida the extra point.
“Pretty good job tonight. That’s a very simple team. They don’t take too many risks in their game. And I thought we did a good job in our neutral zone just giving them that chip in and dump in the game,” Connor said after the game. “There’s not much to play when we’re three above them, and everyone has gotten ahead of their man back on the ice.”
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