WINNIPEG — A thrilling shootout ended in heartbreak for the Winnipeg Jets, who fell 4-3 to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.

Twelve shooters took to the ice in the shootout, as the Jets and Panthers matched goal-for-goal and miss-for-miss. But the Panthers’ Mikael Samuelsson fired one past Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to win the game.

The Panthers bit early in the key divisional tilt, scoring two unanswered first-period goals: one from Panthers star Kris Versteeg almost six minutes into the period, another from centre Mike Santorelli with only 16 seconds left in the frame.

Nik Antropov kept the Jets in the game. The big forward potted a goal early in the second period on a feed from Kyle Wellwood to bring the game to within a goal.

A little more than six minutes into the third period, Antropov scored again, stickhandling a beauty around the Panthers’ crease before firing it past Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen.

Less than a minute after the Jets’ second goal, Versteeg fired a shot on the Jets net and watched the puck bounce into and then over Pavelec to put the Panthers up by one.

Forward Alex Burmistrov pushed the Jets into overtime, rifling a shot past Clemmensen late in the third period to tie the game.