With the Panthers getting into penalty trouble early, Mark Scheifele opened the scoring for the Jets when he took a pass from Pierre-Luc Dubois and beat Spencer Knight from on the right doorstep to make it 1-0 at 13:20 of the first period.
On a power play of their own right after Scheifele's opening strike, the Panthers quickly brought the game back to even when Carter Verhaeghe took a pass from Matthew Tkachuk and sniped a shot past Connor Hellebuyck to make it 1-1 at 14:11.
But that tie would only last 17 seconds as Kyle Connor buried a short-side snipe from the left circle to put the Jets back on top 2-1 at 14:28. Adding a second goal just 1:43 into the second period, Connor rifled another shot into the back of the net to make it 3-1.
Following that goal, Sergei Bobrovsky relieved Knight in Florida's net.
"We didn't start with the puck a whole heck of a lot," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of the team's start. "We were behind it about six inches in most parts. Not in the hearts, not in the minds, but in the legs, so the sticks were a little off the game and we got behind it a bit."
With the Panthers finding themselves in the penalty box once again, the Jets padded their lead even further when Scheifele one-timed a slick centering feed from Connor past Bobrovsky from the slot on the power play to make it 4-1 at 13:23.
Recalled from the AHL on Monday, Zac Dalpe, who captains Florida's affiliate in Charlotte, cut the deficit to 4-2 when he flew down the right side of the ice and fired a superb cross-ice feed from fellow call-up Chris Tierney past Hellebuyck at 9:02 of the third period.
"You want to feel good about your game," Dalpe said. "The loss kind of stings a bit, but me and Tierns (Tierney) have been playing down there. Hopefully you can keep that chemistry going."
