Mathieu Perreault scored the winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
Perreault did some slow stick-handling with the puck before flipping a forehand shot past Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo, a goal that ended Winnipeg’s four-game losing streak.
Dustin Byfuglien had a goal and an assist with Adam Lowry and Bryan Little also chipping in during regulation for Winnipeg (14-16-3). Connor Hellebuyck made 41 saves in net.
Aleksander Barkov, Reilly Smith and Vincent Trocheck scored a trio of power-play goals in the second period for Florida (13-13-5). Jets defenceman Toby Enstrom was in the penalty box for each one. Smith added an assist.
Luongo made 29 stops for the Panthers.
Florida had a 3-2 lead heading into the third period, but with the teams on a four-on-four, Little took a cross-ice pass from Blake Wheeler and shot it into the net at 2:36 as Luongo was sliding over from the other side.
Florida outshot the Jets 42-29 after three periods.
The Jets were being outshot 19-7 in the first when Byfuglien took a pass from rookie Patrik Laine and put a high shot from the bottom of the circle over Luongo’s glove with 11 seconds left in the period.
An earlier review in the period decided the puck hadn’t crossed the goal-line and Florida was denied a goal.
The Panthers scored the trio of power-play goals as Enstrom was sitting in the penalty box for interference, then holding, then interference again.
Barkov evened the game 1-1 at 4:51 of the second. Jaromir Jagr picked up his 1,129th career assist and 1,884th point on the goal. Jagr is now three points away from tying Mark Messier (1,887) for second on the NHL’s all-time points list.
Smith followed up with his fifth goal of the season at 8:36 to give the Panthers the 2-1 lead, but Lowry put the Jets back in a tie at 10:11 when he banged in a loose puck.
Less than two minutes later, Trocheck made it 3-2 with a shot that went past a screened Hellebuyck at 11:58.
The Panthers were 3 for 3 on the power play after the second and the Jets 0 for 2. Winnipeg has given up a power-play goal in each of its past four games.
Winnipeg had three shots on goal in overtime, while Florida had two. Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba watched as his shot banged off the post.
The Panthers finish a three-game road trip Friday against Colorado, while Winnipeg hosts the Avalanche Sunday.
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