Laine scores in Jets' victory over Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Patrik Laine took over as the NHL's leading rookie goal-scorer, powering the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night at the BB&T Center.
Laine, the second overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, scored his 21st goal -- one more than Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews, who had the night off. Matthews was the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft.
The Jets (19-19-3) also got goals from Shawn Matthias, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele as they won their second straight game. Goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the Jets.
Florida (16-15-8) is 1-2-3 in their past six games.
Panthers right winger Jaromir Jagr, already No. 2 in the NHL in career points, reached yet another milestone when he picked up an assist on Greg McKegg's second-period goal. It was career assist No. 1,136 for Jagr, who passed Paul Coffey for fifth place.
However, Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo failed in his third try at passing Terry Sawchuk for fifth place on the NHL's career wins list. Both men have 447 wins.
Winnipeg got the game's first goal with 14:57 left in the second period. The Jets' Adam Lowry won an offensive-zone faceoff inside the left circle. He got the puck to Paul Postma, whose shot from the point was tipped in by Matthias. It was Matthias' fifth goal of the season but his third in his past four games.
The Jets made it 2-0 with Laine's goal 2:21 later. Jets center Bryan Little pounced on a loose puck in the offensive zone and made a quick pass to his left to Laine, who was in alone on Luongo. Laine scored to the stick side for his 21st goal of the season and second in two games.
Florida cut its deficit to 2-1 on McKegg's first goal of the season with 1:42 left in the second period. Freed up with a short pass from Jagr, McKegg skated down the right wing and aimed for the far post, beating Hellebuyck to his stick side.
The Jets extended their lead to 3-1 with 17:14 left in the third period. Little dug the puck out of the left corner and got it to Ehlers, who did the rest.
Winnipeg made it 4-1 with 7:55 left in the third. Jacob Trouba skated around the Panthers goal for a few seconds and wasn't bothered at all. Trouba finally ended the play by dishing to Scheifele for a point-blank goal.
NOTES: Florida C Aleksander Barkov (lower-body injury) missed what would have been an intriguing matchup against Jets RW Patrik Laine. Both are big, talented and young forwards from Tampere, Finland. Both were the No. 2 overall selections in recent NHL drafts -- Barkov, 21, to the Florida Panthers in 2013 and Laine, 18, to the Winnipeg Jets in 2016. ... In the teams' first meeting this season, Winnipeg beat Florida 4-3 in a Dec. 15 shootout. Jets C Bryan Little got the tying goal and scored again in the shootout. ... Jets D Tyler Myers (lower-body injury) has missed 25 straight games but did participate in a light on-ice workout Tuesday. ... Winnipeg scratched D Mark Stuart and RW Chris Thorburn. ... Florida sent D Dylan McIlrath to Springfield of the AHL on a conditioning assignment. ... Florida scratched RW Paul Thompson and C Colton Sceviour.