Panthers can bury the skidding Jets twice in four nights

The Jets walk into Sunrise on the second night of a back-to-back, seven games without a win, a week after trading Connor Hellebuyck. That's a team you put away early. Florida beat them 5-1 in Winnipeg on Tuesday, and nothing about tonight says the cats should need more than one good period to do it again.

The only thing that scares me is the word desperate. Paul Maurice said it best this morning: "They are just one win away from being right there. And they know that." Wounded teams find a goal off a bad change and suddenly believe again. Don't hand them the change.

The lineup card: expected, based on the projected lines. Akira Schmid is confirmed in net.

• Brady Tkachuk – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
• Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Reinhart – Sandis Vilmanis
• Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Lars Eller
• Bokondji Imama – Cole Schwindt – Garnet Hathaway
• Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
• Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
• Dmitry Kulikov – Radko Gudas

Schmid gets his third straight start, with Cooper Black backing up. Uvis Balinskis and Cole Reinhardt are the expected scratches.

Who's out: Aleksander Barkov (knee, LTIR) started skating Wednesday and is still about a month away. Brad Marchand (knee) is skating too, with roughly three weeks to go. Jacob Markstrom (shoulder) skated Thursday but misses at least one more game. Maurice: "He is not far off." Jonah Gadjovich (upper body) is on LTIR.

Winnipeg is without Josh Morrissey, Nick Bjugstad, Vladislav Namestnikov and Garrett Brown.

The other bench: the Jets are 0-4-1 in their last five, minus-9 by our count, and lost 6-4 in Tampa last night.

Their expected lines put Kyle Connor back with Mark Scheifele and Cole Perfetti after Scott Arniel split them in Tampa. There was no morning skate, so warmups will tell. Nico Daws is the expected starter but not confirmed. Stuart Skinner took the loss last night.

Head-to-head: Tuesday was a clinic. Verhaeghe scored twice on the power play, Matthew Tkachuk had four assists, Brady added a goal and two helpers, and Seth Jones had three assists. Schmid made 24 saves.

The one matchup: Florida's power play against Winnipeg's penalty kill. Per NHL data, the Panthers are converting 23.0 percent and the Jets are killing just 73.5 percent. Florida scored three power-play goals Tuesday. If Winnipeg keeps sending guys to the box tonight, this ends early.

Here's my Ferda number. Eetu Luostarinen has gone 11 straight games without a point, per NHL data, and Lundell has gone six. The top six is carrying this team. Against a tired opponent, the third line has to chip in, not just survive its shifts.

For the bettors, Florida is a -225 moneyline favorite with the total at 6.5. By our count the Panthers are 3-9 against the puck line this season and the under is 7-5. 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Pabs' read: the Tkachuk line wins its minutes, the power play scores early, and Schmid doesn't have to steal anything. Panthers 4, Jets 2. Anything less than a sweep of a team this beat up is a missed chance.

How to watch: 7 p.m. ET at Amerant Bank Arena. Scripps Sports carries it locally (WSFL 39 in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, WHDT 9 in West Palm Beach, LAFF 36.3 in Naples and Fort Myers), with streaming on Panthers+ and ESPN+. Radio is on WQAM.