WINNIPEG -- They both entered the game as fragile as Faberge eggs and looking for any signs of life to turn their struggling seasons around.

It would appear the Winnipeg Jets and Florida Panthers got what they wanted, at least in part, on Thursday night at the MTS Centre.

Winnipeg pulled out a 4-3 shootout win over Florida, snapping a four-game losing streak that has seen them sinking in the NHL standings. And while the Panthers may only have got a single point and extended their own winless streak to five, their players and coaches were pleased with the effort if not the final outcome.

"It was a tough one, we did a lot of good things. We outshot them dramatically in the first and second period, had great chances (but) just couldn't finish. A lot of good stuff to build on tomorrow," said Panthers head coach Tom Rowe.

Florida came out flying in the first period, throwing pucks on net from seemingly every corner and angle on the ice. Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck stood tall on several occasions, stopping all 19 shots he faced in the opening frame.

After weathering the initial storm, Hellebuyck's teammates gave him some offensive support with just 11 seconds left in the period. Laine showed he's more than just a sniper, threading a perfect pass to a streaking Dustin Byfuglien, who buried a shot past Florida goalie Roberto Luongo for a 1-0 advantage.

Florida tied it up early in the second period, as Aleksander Barkov banged home a rebound during a goalmouth scramble on the power play. Jaromir Jagr drew an assist on the goal, giving him 1,884 career regular-season points. He's now just three behind Mark Messier's 1,887 for second all-time in the NHL.

Reilly Smith then put the Panthers ahead midway through the period when he blew a shot by Hellebuyck, once again with the Jets shorthanded.

The Panthers' lead didn't last long, as Adam Lowry used his big body to fight off a Florida defender and muscle the puck past Luongo less than two minutes later.

But Florida would take advantage of yet another Jets penalty late in the period, as Vincent Trocheck gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead.

Winnipeg defenseman Toby Enstrom had a period to forget, as he was in the box for all three of Florida's power-play goals.

"It's tough. You never want to sit in the box. You never want to see when you're in there you get scored upon. You just have to put that aside and try to fight back. We did that today and the team stepped up really good," Enstrom said following the game.

Florida surrendered the lead early in the third period. Bryan Little showed some poise and patience in taking a Blake Wheeler pass off his feet, waiting out Luongo and firing the puck past the diving Panthers' goalie just a few minutes into the period.

The teams traded scoring chances and odd-man rushes in an exciting 3-on-3 overtime -- including Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba hitting the post and Laine shooting high over the net on a breakaway.

In the shootout, Trocheck was up first and made no mistake, deking out Hellebuyck. Little responded for the Jets in the skills competition off a nifty backhand, scoring on the team's third attempt to keep their hopes alive.

The game would be decided in the sixth round when Jets forward Mathieu Perreault beat Luongo to the blocker side, sending the crowd home happy.

"We kind of came into this one, anticipating it was going to be a little bit ugly. We didn't think we'd just come in after a couple days off and be right back on top of our game. It wasn't pretty by any means. But at the same time you're going to need wins like that in this league. It was a good sign there in the third period, to gut it out, get it in to overtime and get the two (points)," said Wheeler.

Luongo stopped 29 of 32 shots he faced in regulation and overtime but was denied what would have been his 447th career regular-season victory, which would put him into a tie for fifth overall in NHL history with Winnipeg-native Terry Sawchuk.

Hellebuyck stopped 41 of the 44 shots Florida put on net.

Winnipeg is now 14-16-3 on the year. Florida drops to 13-13-5, including 2-2-4 since firing head coach Gerard Gallant and replacing him with Rowe.

"We had enough leads in this game to close it out and you can't let those ones slip away. It's tough that it ended up going to a shootout because it's anyone's game at that point. But I think we controlled the pace of the game from the start of the game. It's just frustrating," Smith said following the game. "The opportunities are there, 44 shots. Power play was better tonight, which is nice. But when you have that many opportunities, you got to find a way to win. If it's on the road or whatever. If you have a lead on the road in the third period, you got to be able to close that out."

Florida will look to get back in the win column when they travel to Colorado to play Friday night. Winnipeg is off until Sunday afternoon, when they'll host the Avalanche.

NOTES: The Jets set an NHL record by playing 32 games in the first 60 days of this season. ... This was the first meeting between the teams this season. They'll play again in Florida on Jan. 4. ... Winnipeg hasn't fared well against Eastern Conference opponents this season, with just a 5-8-2 record. ... Jets scratches Thursday were C Alex Burmistrov and D Mark Stuart. ... The Panthers sat C Jonathan Marchessault, their leading goal scorer who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Joining him in the press box was C Kyle Rau and D Jakub Kindl.