Lundell's First Hat Trick Powers Panthers Past Jets 5-2

Anton Lundell scored his first NHL hat trick on Friday night as the Florida Panthers beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. Lundell, a sixth-year veteran who entered the night with just one goal in 13 games this season, delivered the game's final two goals in the last seven minutes to pull Florida clear after the Jets had fought back to 3-2. Seth Jones added a goal and two assists to continue his hot streak, Sam Reinhart also scored, and Akira Schmid made 22 saves for his third consecutive win. Kyle Connor, with his team-leading 11th goal of the season, and Morgan Barron replied for Winnipeg, but the Jets have now lost eight straight games, going 0-6-2 in that stretch, and have been beaten by Florida twice in the same week. Nico Daws, acquired last week from New Jersey, made his first start as a Jet and stopped 33 of 37 shots. Florida have now won three straight and six of eight, and remain without injured forwards Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand, making Lundell's outburst all the more timely.