Jets at Panthers
The Winnipeg Jets vie for their fourth win in five contests when they visit the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Olli Jokinen burned his former team by scoring twice in the third period on Monday as the Jets improved to 3-1-0 on their six-game road trip with a 5-2 triumph over the New York Rangers. Winnipeg wraps up its trek against Tampa Bay on Saturday before returning home for three straight contests.
The Jets won three of the five meetings between the former Southeast Division rivals last season, with two coming in overtime. Florida fell for the third straight time and fifth in six contests (1-4-1) with a 4-2 setback to Ottawa on Tuesday. Defenseman Brian Campbell scored on the power play and set up Jonathan Huberdeau's tally before the Panthers let a two-goal advantage slip away.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TSN (Winnipeg), FSN (Florida)
ABOUT THE JETS (13-12-4): Evander Kane scored twice in the teams' last meeting, helping Winnipeg to a 7-2 triumph on April 13. Kane, however, is nursing a lower-body injury which he suffered in Friday afternoon's 2-1 loss to Philadelphia and is questionable versus Florida. John Albert replaced Kane and made the most of his opportunity by scoring in his NHL debut one day after being recalled from St. John's of the American Hockey League.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (7-16-5): Campbell wasn't shy about voicing his opinion as Florida's troubles have kept it near the bottom of the Atlantic. "This is frustrating. It's not fun," he said. "I feel like we're close, but we keep making major mistakes that cost us. They don't seem to leave our game." Scottie Upshall notched an assist versus Ottawa to extend his career-high point streak to four games but has yet to score a goal in 12 career contests against the Jets.
OVERTIME
1. Winnipeg RW Devin Setoguchi has collected three goals and an assist in his last four games but has yet to record a point in five career contests versus Florida.
2. Panthers LW Tomas Fleischmann collected eight points and Huberdeau recorded four goals in the season series against the Jets in 2012-13.
3. Winnipeg is 0-for-14 on the power play in its last five contests.