Jets drop 5th in a row as Marchment's 3-point opening period leads Panthers to victory

Mason Marchment scored twice and added an assist as the Florida Panthers defeated the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 before 250 fans on Tuesday in Winnipeg.

The Jets, who had their winless skid extended to five games (0-3-2) were playing at Canada Life Centre for the first time since Dec. 19. They had eight straight road games after that related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Only a maximum of 250 fans were allowed Tuesday under health orders that expire Feb. 1. Canned crowd noise was played during the game to add to the sparse crowd seated on one side of the rink.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves for Florida, which ended a five-game road trip going 3-2-0 and are 8-6-5 overall away from home this season.

Paul Stastny, Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jets (17-15-7), who host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Connor Hellebuyck, playing his 12th straight game, made 27 stops.

Winnipeg learned just before the game that top-pairing defenceman Josh Morrissey was placed in COVID protocols after testing positive earlier in the day. He joined forward Dominic Toninato and assistant coach Charlie Huddy.

Florida led 3-2 after the first period with Marchment stealing the show.

20 minutes in and we've got multi-point nights for Lundy, Marchy, and Reino