Scheifele's late goal lifts Jets to 2-1 win over Panthers, who drop their 3rd in a row

Published Jan. 31, 2026 6:49 p.m. ET

Associated Press

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Mark Scheifele scored the go-ahead goal with 4:14 remaining, lifting the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 win over the sliding and short-handed Florida Panthers on Saturday.

Winnipeg was 1-18-2 in games where it trailed entering the third period going into the game, and was down 1-0 with 20 minutes left against the Panthers. But the Jets scored twice in a span of just over seven minutes to take command.

Cole Perfetti scored with 11:26 left to tie the game, then Scheifele got his 27th of the season for what became the game-winner.

Eric Comrie stopped 27 shots for the Jets, including one with 37.1 seconds left on a shot by Matthew Tkachuk. Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett got shots to the net after that as well for the Panthers, but neither got by Comrie and the Jets prevailed for just the third time in their last nine games.

Eetu Luostarinen got the goal for Florida, which has dropped three straight and ended the game eight points back of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers — who have been without Aleksander Barkov all season — played Saturday without Brad Marchand, who is day to day, along with Anton Lundell and Seth Jones, among others.

It was the first time this season that Florida took a lead into the third period and failed to get at least one point out of a game. The Panthers were 17-0-1 in such situations entering Saturday, the fifth-best record in the league.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots in the Florida net.