Brady Tkachuk has gone from slow starter to full-on problem for opposing teams in a hurry, and the Florida Panthers are cashing in.
After going scoreless through his first five games with his new club and collecting just one assist in his first six, Tkachuk has suddenly found a gear. On Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, he broke through with a natural hat trick - his first three goals as a Panther - and on Thursday night at home he somehow topped that performance.
Down 2-0 to the Vancouver Canucks with 8:49 left in regulation, Tkachuk got Florida on the board with the Panthers’ 32nd shot of the night. He wasn’t done there.
With 12.8 seconds remaining in the third period, he forced overtime by scoring again. Then in the extra session, he danced around a Canucks defender with a toe drag and buried the winner to seal a 3-2 Florida victory and his second straight hat trick.
“Today was pretty special,” Tkachuk said postgame. “Just to do it in front of this crowd, this amazing fan base.
”Of course it’s not just one guy out there. It took a group effort.”
Seth Jones, who set up Tkachuk’s final two goals, had a simple read on the night.
“He’s a true gamer. I think he impacts, you know, he’s obviously scoring right now, but he impacts the game in so many ways-with his physicality, his tenacity around the net. He played an unreal game tonight.”
The feat put Tkachuk in some rare Panthers company. He became just the second player in franchise history to record a hat trick in overtime, joining Sasha Barkov, who did it twice. He also became only the third Panther to post hat tricks in back-to-back games, alongside Noel Acciari and Pavel Bure.
“I mean it’s pretty cool,” Tkachuk said when told that stat.
“But I know what my goal is being here. And that’s being part of something special.
It’s not about the individual stuff. Yeah, it’s great, but there’s bigger, bigger goals out there that not just myself have, but this group has as well.”
The hot streak has erased any lingering questions about his early scoring line. Tkachuk now leads the Panthers with six goals in eight games.
Coach Paul Maurice said there was never any panic about the way the start looked.
“I was at zero concern of his production early in the year,” Maurice said of Tkachuk. “Everything is brand new, and then he worked with [Barkov] for two and a half weeks and played four periods with him.”
“The centerman (Barkov) leaves, takes us a little while to adjust to that, and now he’s kind of figured Sam Bennett out and that’s a pretty darn good line.”
For Tkachuk, the bigger takeaway was what the comeback said about the team around him.
“It says a lot about the guys in this room,” Tkachuk said, “just the culture that these guys have created over the last couple of years that you’re truly never out of it.
“For me to be able to just learn off that, I’m truly blessed and lucky.”
The Panthers will see Seattle again on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. The game is set for 6 p.m., with streaming on Panthers+ and ESPN+. Radio coverage will be on WQAM, WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach), WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys) and SiriusXM, with Panthers Radio Streaming available on SiriusXM and the NHL App.
The season series continues with a game at Seattle on Jan. 12, and the teams tied 1-1 last season. Seattle leads the all-time regular season series 6-2-2.
Florida’s next road game comes Wednesday at the Ottawa Senators at 7:30 p.m.
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