Anton Lundell’s First Hat Trick Leads Panthers Past Jets 5-2
Lundell’s first career hat trick powered Florida to a 5-2 win, while Seth Jones extended his record month and Akira Schmid faced questions after two goals.
Anton Lundell supplied the decisive punch in Florida’s 5-2 win over Winnipeg on Friday, scoring the first hat trick of his NHL career. The Panthers finished a four-day home-and-home stretch with the Jets by taking both games, but the margin in this one took time to grow: Florida led 3-2 early in the third period before Lundell’s empty-net goal sealed it.
Seth Jones added another three-point performance, and Akira Schmid earned the victory to move to 5-2-1. The result gives Florida plenty to like on offense, while Schmid’s work on Winnipeg’s two goals leaves a specific area to examine before the Panthers’ next game.
Lundell turns a long-awaited goal into a hat trick
Lundell’s opening goal carried some extra weight. The Finnish center hadn’t scored since Oct. 12, and his reaction made clear how much he wanted to end that stretch. He went on to score three times, becoming the 12th-youngest player in Panthers history to record a hat trick at age 25.
His final goal came into an empty net, a fitting finish to a night that began with a breakthrough and ended with the game out of reach. Florida has already seen a remarkable run of individual scoring in October: Brady Tkachuk recorded two hat tricks, while Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett each added one. Lundell became the fourth Panthers player in that group and brought the month’s total to five hat tricks.
That production speaks to the number of players who have been able to take over a game for Florida. For Lundell, the immediate takeaway is more personal: he found the net after a quiet stretch, then kept scoring. A hat trick can change the feel of a game, but getting the first one after going without a goal since Oct. 12 may matter just as much for his confidence in the next stretch.
Schmid’s two goals allowed kept Winnipeg close
The 5-2 final makes for a comfortable-looking win, but Winnipeg stayed within one goal until the third period was eight minutes old. Schmid allowed two goals, one fewer than the Jets scored against him in the teams’ meeting a couple of days earlier in Winnipeg. Both Friday goals also appeared to offer a chance for a save.
Kyle Connor, one of the league’s top scorers, found a corner with a precise shot. The finish was excellent, though a small adjustment in Schmid’s stance might have put the goaltender’s shoulder in its path. Morgan Barron’s third-period goal raised a similar question: he drove through the circles and released a snapshot that slipped through a gap.
Those plays don’t erase the result or Schmid’s win. They do explain why the game felt tighter than the score suggests for much of the night. Florida had enough offense to create breathing room, but while Winnipeg was close, each goal allowed carried more weight. Schmid’s 5-2-1 record reflects his results so far; his positioning on these two chances is the detail to watch as the Panthers assess his recent work.
Jones sets a new Panthers mark from the blue line
Jones continued to build a strong month with his second goal of the season and two assists against Winnipeg. It was his second consecutive three-point game and his third such outing in October. His 18 points for the month set a Panthers franchise record for a defenseman, surpassing Keith Yandle’s previous mark of 17, according to Panthers reporter Jameson Olive.
The figure puts Jones in a striking spot among the league’s offensive defensemen. Evan Bouchard had 22 points in 13 games and a plus-19 rating at the time of the report, with Quinn Hughes at 20 points and plus-8. Jones finished October with 18 points of his own. His pace is a projection, not a season total, but his current production has made him a prominent contributor to Florida’s attack.
The 32-year-old’s previous career high was 57 points in a season. The source’s pace calculation had him tracking toward 108, a remarkable early-season rate that will depend on sustaining this output across the schedule. For now, the more concrete case is already strong: Jones recorded another three points, set a club mark for a defenseman in a single month, and gave Florida a second major offensive storyline alongside Lundell’s hat trick.
Florida gets a short reset before Detroit
The Panthers have the weekend off before hosting Detroit on Monday night. The Red Wings are expected to be without Dylan Larkin, according to the linked report on his status. Florida can use the break after a compact run that included two meetings with Winnipeg and a pair of wins.
The next game will offer an early read on whether the offensive contributions from Lundell and Jones carry forward, and whether Schmid can clean up the openings that kept the Jets close. Florida leaves the Winnipeg series with the points and a standout night from Lundell; the challenge now is turning that momentum into a steadier performance across the lineup.
Game summary: Winnipeg Jets at Florida Panthers
Video of Lundell’s empty-net goal
