Ineffective defensive game plan, Perfetti continues to shine, Hellebuyck’s costly puck management: Three takeaways from Jets’ 5-3 defeat to Panthers

Coming off a miserable four-game road trip, which resulted in four straight losses, the Winnipeg Jets were very pleased to finally come home but they were welcomed with another tough test against the Florida Panthers. Holding their first game at Canada Life Centre since Dec. 19, with only 250 fans in attendance, the Jets were forced to create their own atmosphere during this contest, luckily, the first 20 minutes of play featured plenty of quality entertainment. From start to finish, the opening frame was played at an extremely high tempo, which consisted of several end-to-end rushes in transition. In total, these two franchises combined for five goals – including a pair of markers from Paul Stastny and Kyle Connor – although it was forward Mason Marchment’s two-goal effort that was largely responsible for the Panthers’ 3-2 lead after the first period. Then, as the pace of play calmed in the middle frame, forward Pierre-Luc Dubois scored on the power play at the 3:30 mark, tying the score at three goals apie