SUNRISE, Fla — Can the Winnipeg Jets finally do it?

Can they find a way to string together victories on back-to-back nights for the first time in nine tries this season?

It’s a subject that won’t go away quietly until they do, since the Jets are 0-8 when facing a similar situation and have been outscored dramatically in those games.

The subject has been beaten to death, but it would certainly serve the Jets well to find a way to reverse the trend as they face the Florida Panthers on Friday night at BankAtlantic Center.

It goes without saying that this is a huge opportunity for the Jets to take another step closer to top spot in the Southeast. They enter the day in 10th spot in the East, three points behind the Panthers and four points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are 8th.

With Thursday’s win over the Lightning, the Jets improved to 7-4-1 inside the Southeast Divsion this season and they’ve outscored opponents 36-30 — which is pretty good for a team that is -17 in goals for/against differential.

With the Jets in the midst of a busy schedule, Jets head coach Claude Noel is turning to Chris Mason between the pipes, so it will be a battle of the backups as Scott Clemmensen starts for the Panthers in place of the injured Jose Theodore.

We thought Noel might stick with Ondrej Pavelec again, given what’s at stake in a battle with the Southeast Division leader, but the busy schedule (the Jets are back in action Sunday afternoon against the Montreal Canadiens to close out the four-game road swing) lent itself to Mason.

It’s not a coincidence either that Pavelec hasn’t been at his best against the Panthers this season — in three appearances, he’s 1-1-1 and has allowed 10 goals while posting a 3.55 goals against average and .875 save percentage.

This will be Mason’s first game of the season against the Panthers, as Peter Mannino saw one period of action against Florida after Pavelec gave up five goals in two periods back on Nov. 10 in the 5-2 loss.

Pavelec, who has been great in his two starts this week against the Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning (two goals against in two extra-time games), should be back in action against the Canadiens.

Here are three things we’ll be looking for in this one:

1) How Dustin Byfuglien play on consecutive nights?

The powerful blue-liner was excellent in his return to the lineup and didn’t miss a beat after missing 16 games. He made a lot of smart decisions, didn’t get caught out of position often and he created plenty of offensive opportunities for himself and others. He played 25-plus minutes so it will be interesting to see how Noel manages his minutes in this one. The Jets are a much different — and dangerous — team with Byfuglien in the lineup.

2) Can the stop Kris Versteeg?

The Panthers scoring leader has been a Jets killer, lighting them up for five goals and seven points in the two games played at MTS Centre. It should be noted the Jets kept him off the scoresheet back on Oct. 31 in their 4-3 shootout win. He’s a dangerous player, but he has been battling the flu. He’s the straw that stirs the Panthers’ drink. If the Jets contain him, their chances of finding a way to win increase dramatically. On the flip side, Nik Antroov (two goals, four points) and Thursday’s OT hero Kyle Wellwood (one goal, four points) lead the Jets offensive attack in the three games played in the season series so far.

3) Will the offence finally break out?

Now we’re not talking about a five or six-goal outburst here, but can the Jets find a way to score more than two? This is a legitimate question as they’ve been held to only five goals in their past four games. During that time, they’ve posted a record of 2-2. They’ve already been shutout six times this season (including three times in January), so naturally if the Jets can get to three, it would take some little pressure off their goaltender.

Should be an interesting one here, that’s for sure.

We’re not expecting the Jets to make any lineup changes for this game, so here’s how we expect both teams to start the game:

WinnipegJets

Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little-Blake Wheeler
Kyle Wellwood-Nik Antropov-Eric Fehr
Tanner Glass-Jim Slater-Chris Thorburn
Alex BurmistrovAaron Gagnon-Antti Miettinen

Defence pairings
Toby Enstrom-Dustin Byguflien
Ron Hainsey-Zach Bogosian
Mark Stuart-Johnny Oduya

Goalies
Chris Mason (Ondrej Pavelec)

Florida Panthers
Tomas Fleischmann-Stephen Weiss-Kris Versteeg
Sean Bergenheim-Marcel Goc-Mikael Samuelsson
Tomas Kopecky-Shawn Matthias-Mike Santorelli
Krys Barch-John Madden-Matt Bradley

Defence pairings
Jason Garrison-Mike Weaver
Brian Campbell-Erik Gudbranson
Tyson Strachan-Keaton Ellerby

Goalies
Scott Clemmensen (Brian Foster)