In a rare home-and-home series spread over four days, the Florida Panthers welcomed the struggling Winnipeg Jets to Amerant Bank Arena on Friday night, extending Winnipeg's losing streak with another convincing victory, 5-2. Anton Lundell led the Cats' attack, registering his first career hat trick, while Seth Jones had another three-point game. Between the pipes, Akira Schmid picked up another victory to improve to 5-2-1.
Claw: Panthers fans may be running out of hats soon
In October, four different Florida players combined for five hat tricks, including Brady Tkachuk (2), Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, and now Lundell. At just 25, the Finnish center became the 12th youngest player in franchise history to score a hat trick. When Lundell scored his first goal of the night, his excitement was obvious, especially considering he hadn't found the back of the net since Oct. 12. As he fired the puck down into the empty net to seal the win, he gave Panthers fans another celebratory moment involving hats.
Flaw: Akira Schmid, angles, and sloppy goals
The Jets scored two goals on Schmid, which is one fewer than they had a couple of days ago in Winnipeg. Although the final score is 5-2, the game appeared closer than that since it was 3-2 eight minutes into the third period. It's not that the Swiss netminder surrendered the sloppiest goals of the season; those have already happened and will undoubtedly happen again. Rather, he allowed two goals that appeared saveable. Sure, Kyle Connor is one of the NHL’s premier goal scorers, but he picked his corner and threaded a puck by Schmid, who could have had a shoulder on it with a slight pivot in his stance. Same with Morgan Barron’s goal in the third. As the Jets forward made a power move through the circles, he just got a snapshot on the goalie that found a hole through Schmid. Ultimately, Winnipeg remained within striking distance for much of the game because Schmid surrendered two goals he had opportunities to stop.
Claw: Seth Jones is quietly entering the Norris Trophy conversation
Most of the NHL is in awe of what Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard are doing in Edmonton, thanks to ridiculous point totals and streaks. At the moment, Bouchard has 22 points in 13 games and is plus-19, with Quinn Hughes (Minnesota) right behind him at 20 points and a plus-8 rating. Meanwhile, Seth Jones is quietly keeping pace with the NHL's elite offensive defensemen, scoring his second goal of the season Friday to finish October with 18 points.
Seth Jones has set a new #FlaPanthers record for the most points in a single month by a defenseman with 18.
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) October 31, 2026
Keith Yandle held the previous record of 17.
The 32-year-old has never scored more than 57 points in a season, but is currently on pace for 108 points. Besides the three goals from Lundell, Jones also had two helpers to finish with three points, his second consecutive three-point game and third of the month. Overall, the Panthers would not be where they are without Jones’ offensive production, a statistic flying under the radar among most NHL fans.
What’s next for the Panthers?
The Panthers have a rare weekend off before returning to action Monday night against the Detroit Red Wings, who will arrive in South Florida without Dylan Larkin in their lineup.
Add us as a preferred source on Google