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Panthers-Jets Preview
Florida Panthers at Winnipeg Jets
- The Panthers scored five times in the third period last Thursday to emerge with a 6-3 victory over Winnipeg. It was Florida's first five-goal outburst in a single period since January 10, 2009.
- The Panthers have won their last two games on the heels of a five-game losing skid. They've erupted for 10 goals over the two victories, matching their total over their first six games of the season.
- The Jets have allowed the initial goal in each of their last six games, matching Colorado for the longest active streaks in the league. After overcoming their early deficits to win the first three of those games, Winnipeg has dropped the last three.
- George Parros produced two firsts as a member of the Panthers on Sunday, scoring his first goal and engaging in his first fight with Florida. It was the fifth time in his career he's combined the two feats in the same game, but the first time since December 1, 2010.
- With a goal and two assists on Friday, defenseman Paul Postma had a hand in all three Winnipeg scores. His three-point effort exceeded his previous career output (two assists) over 11 games.
- For the first time this season, Ondrej Pavelec was pulled from a start on Friday, after he allowed five goals on 14 shots. He's 0-3-0 with a 5.85 GAA and an .808 save percentage over his last three outings.
By ALAN FERGUSON
(AP) -- The Florida Panthers snapped out of a prolonged slump last week with a flurry of late goals against the Winnipeg Jets.
That earned them some payback for their most recent visit to Winnipeg, which was one to forget.
The Panthers will try for a better showing there and a third straight win in Tuesday night's rematch with the Jets, losers of three in a row.
Florida (3-5-0) was outscored 23-5 during a five-game losing streak but matched that output in the third period of a 6-3 victory over the Jets (3-4-1) on Thursday. The Panthers registered four goals in the final 8:40.
Florida then rallied for a 4-3 win over Buffalo on Sunday, ending an 0-3-0 start on the road.
As in the victory over Winnipeg, each goal was scored by a different player. Brian Campbell and Peter Mueller were the only two to score in both games, while Tomas Kopecky had a team-best four points with one goal and three assists.
"We're starting to come as a team a bit more now and have faith in coming back," said Campbell, who had the go-ahead goal in the third Sunday. "Earlier in the season, we didn't have a whole lot of faith and confidence. But now we're starting to see our team develop."
The Panthers will try to keep building their confidence in the second game of a four-game trip as they look to avoid another miserable effort in Winnipeg. Florida lost 7-0 there March 1, giving up five goals in the third period.
With the Jets having been outscored 18-9 in the last three games, though, the Panthers would appear to have a good chance to extend their roll.
Winnipeg lost 8-3 to Tampa Bay on Friday, trailing 6-0 after the first 26 minutes. Ondrej Pavelec gave up five goals on 14 shots and Al Montoya allowed three on 11.
"Sometimes you've got to hit rock bottom or whatever to figure out that you've had enough of this stuff," coach Claude Noel said. "Our job is to find solutions to these things, and for me, I know how our team can play and that's what we have to get back to doing."
The Jets gave up three power-play goals in the first period Friday and have allowed opponents to convert nine of 18 opportunities in the last four games.
Florida was 3 of 6 with the man advantage Thursday and Alex Kovalev scored the go-ahead goal on one of those opportunities.
"We've got two choices," Winnipeg forward Alexei Ponikarovsky said. "Choice 1 is to pout and complain and moan about taking too many penalties. The second choice is go home, improve collectively and individually. That's going to have to be our focus."
The Jets have won their past two home games.
Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, who had two goals and two assists in his last three games, has missed the past two contests with a lower-body injury.
Evander Kane powered the March 1 rout with two goals and two assists.
The Jets haven't lost four straight since an 0-2-3 skid Nov. 5-12, 2011.
Updated February 4, 2013
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