Kane has 4 points as Jets thump Panthers
Posted March 1, 2012 11:31 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
WINNIPEG — Evander Kane scored twice and added two assists as the Winnipeg Jets routed the Florida Panthers 7-0 on Thursday.
Ondrej Pavelec made 33 saves to earn his fourth shutout this season for Winnipeg (31-27-8), while Kyle Wellwood and Blake Wheeler both had a goal and an assist. Jim Slater, Bryan Little and Nik Antropov also scored.
Jose Theodore made 20 saves on 24 shots in the start for Florida (30-21-12), which had a three-game winning streak snapped. He was pulled after Little’s goal made it 4-0 at the 4:35 mark of the third period. Scott Clemmensen made five stops on eight shots in relief.
The victory helped the Jets gain ground on Florida in the Southeast Division, putting them two points behind the division-leading Panthers and one point ahead of idle Washington.
Florida, which sits third in the Eastern Conference, has three games in hand on the Jets, as does Washington, which next plays Friday at home against New Jersey.
Little’s goal at 4:35 of the third came on a rare five-on-one, with Florida defenceman Erik Gudbranson the lone man back.
Jets defenceman Randy Jones sent a short pass to Wheeler, who passed the puck across the net to Little and he popped it in over Theodore.
The fans stood and gave the players a standing ovation for the rare attack.
Kane opening the scoring after he intercepted a clearing attempt by Keaton Ellerby from deep in his own zone and quickly fired the puck past Theodore at 4:01 of the first.
Slater soon made it 2-0 at 6:03 when he took advantage of a rebound off Mark Stuart’s point shot.
Theodore was on the ice as the puck bounced to the side and Slater sent a wrist shot into an empty net.
Panther left-winger Tomas Fleischmann had two breakaways in the first period. His first shot went off the crossbar and the second was turned aside by Pavelec.
Winnipeg outshot Florida 13-7 in the first, but the Panthers went ahead 24-21 after the scoreless second period.
Wellwood’s goal began the barrage at 1:49 of the third.
After Little’s goal, Antropov scored on the power play at 8:06 and then Kane added his second of the game just 12 seconds later.
Kane is on a career-best eight-game points streak with seven goals and seven assists.
The crowd started chanting “We want perfect” as they cheered for a shutout.
Wheeler netted the game’s final marker at 17:58 as Winnipeg tied a franchise record for single-period goals with five in the third.
Florida has won three of five meetings with the Jets this season. They play once more in Florida.
Winnipeg is now (4-1-2) in an eight-game homestand.
Florida had a four-game road-winning streak end.
Notes: Jets defenceman Zach Bogosian was back after missing the past seven games with a wrist injury. … Panther Kris Versteeg missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury.
