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Little lifts Jets past Panthers in OT

Feb 6, 2013 - 4:47 AM Winnipeg, MB (Sports Network) - Bryan Little netted the deciding goal with 15.2 seconds left in overtime to lift the Winnipeg Jets over the Florida Panthers, 3-2, at MTS Centre.

Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart also scored for Winnipeg, which snapped a three- game slide. Ondrej Pavelec made 17 saves.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Fleischmann supplied the offense, while Scott Clemmensen stopped 18 shots for the Panthers, who saw their two-game win streak come to an end.

"We felt we could have gotten the two points," Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. "I thought we played a fairly solid road game. I think we did a lot of good things."

Little's game-winning goal came on the power play after Florida's Filip Kuba was whistled for tripping with 2:10 remaining in the extra period.

The Jets could not put together much offensive pressure during the man advantage as the Panthers kept clearing the puck out of their zone, but one of those clears led to a late rush, which saw Little receive a pass after breaking free in the slot.

He then fired a wrister past Clemmensen's glove and inside the right post for the deciding tally.

"It's nice to win after a tough road trip. but it would have been nice to get the two points clean," said Little. "I think it was a pretty sloppy game, but you know two is better than nothing, so I think we're pretty happy with that."

Huberdeau netted the lone goal of the first period with a one-timer off a big rebound in the left circle with 1:48 left in the frame.

Wheeler answered 2:28 into the second period after receiving a long outlet pass from Tobias Enstrom at the Florida blue line and ripping a slap shot from the right circle.

Fleischmann put Florida back on top over a minute later with a slap shot from the right point that sailed through a crowd and past Pavelec, but Winnipeg again responded with 7:39 left in the middle stanza with Stuart's wrister from the left point to knot the game at 2-2.

Both teams failed to capitalize on a power-play opportunity in a scoreless third period to force overtime.

Game Notes

Wheeler's goal was his 200th career point ... Enstrom's assist stretched his point streak to a career-high seven games. He has two goals and nine assists in the streak ... Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfuglien missed his third consecutive game with a lower body injury ... Panthers forward Peter Mueller had his four-game goal streak snapped.