The Florida Panthers found their rhythm fast enough, and then loud enough, to turn Tuesday night into a showcase for the Tkachuk brothers.
After a quiet opening period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, Florida took over in the second and never looked back, rolling to a 7-3 win behind Brady Tkachuk’s three-goal night and four assists from Matthew Tkachuk. The Panthers trailed 1-0 after one, then ripped off four goals in the middle frame to take control for good.
Brady Tkachuk opened his Panthers account with a tying goal early in the second, finishing a cross-ice feed from Matthew. From there, the goals kept coming.
Brady scored twice more in the period, completing a natural hat trick and becoming the eighth player in Panthers history to do it. His three goals came in 8:03, the third-fastest three-goal burst by a Florida player.
Matthew Tkachuk was all over the game, piling up four assists and extending his point streak against Columbus to 15 straight games, matching his father Keith for the second-longest streak against the Blue Jackets in NHL history. Only Jake Guentzel has a longer one, at 17.
Florida also got a milestone night from Sam Reinhart, who scored in his 12th straight game against Columbus dating to 2022. That set the franchise mark for the longest point streak against a single opponent. Reinhart finished with two goals, including an empty-netter late in the third.
Carter Verhaeghe added two goals, breaking up Brady Tkachuk’s run with a tally late in the second and then scoring again early in the third. Florida’s other second-period goal came on the power play, and the Panthers were ruthless with the extra man, going 3-for-5 in the period after scoring twice on the power play in Buffalo on Monday.
The opening goal belonged to Columbus. Kent Johnson jumped on a puck deep in the Florida zone and beat Akira Schmid off the blocker at 14:11 of the first. After that, the Panthers gradually grabbed the night by the throat.
Brady’s first came at 2:27 of the second, Matthew’s setup sending him in for the finish. At 6:00, Brady scored again on the power play, charging through the slot to finish another Matthew feed. Then at 10:30, he completed the natural hat trick from down low, triggering the hat tosses.
Verhaeghe made it 4-1 late in the second off another Matthew assist, and Florida never gave the Blue Jackets much of a chance to breathe after that. Reinhart deflected home a Matthew point shot early in the third to make it 5-1, and Verhaeghe’s second of the night came 2:05 later from about 40 feet through traffic.
Columbus got two late goals from Denton Mateychuk and Cole Sillinger, but Reinhart capped the scoring with his second of the night and fourth goal over the past two games at 17:43.
Schmid earned his first win with the Panthers with 22 saves. Cooper Black was recalled from Charlotte to back him up with Jacob Markstrom day-to-day. Florida was also without Radko Gudas.
The Panthers improved to 3-2-2.
- Brady Tkachuk, Panthers
- Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers
- Sam Reinhart, Panthers
Florida returns home Thursday to face Columbus again at Amerant Bank Arena.
In Other News...
Dylan Larkin Trade Talk Now Hinges On One Massive Detroit Decision
Dylan Larkins situation in Detroit has quietly become one of the more interesting storylines around the league, and it naturally has Florida watching closely. The Red Wings center reportedly has asked for a trade while holding a full no-trade clause, which gives him real control over where this goes next, and the Panthers are said to be among the teams he would consider. There is at least some built-in familiarity there, too, from past international play and connections through management, which helps explain why Florida keeps surfacing in the conversation.
From the Panthers side, the appeal is obvious if a player of Larkins caliber actually becomes available, but the cap math would not be simple. A deal would likely force Florida to move a significant contract to create enough room, the kind of transaction that could involve a core piece or a key roster regular rather than a simple depth shuffle. For a team with championship ambitions, that is the real tension here: the fit is easy to imagine, while the path to actually making it work is anything but. [Read more 🡒]
Tkachuk Brothers Just Showed Why This Panthers Line Feels Different
For a Panthers team that has spent plenty of time looking for the right kind of chemistry on its top end, the second period against Columbus was as clear a reminder as it gets. Brady Tkachuk took over with a three-goal burst, and Matthew Tkachuk was right in the middle of all of it, feeding each score and helping set the tone for a line that suddenly looked like it had been built to overwhelm opponents in a hurry.
The family connection only sharpened the impact, because this was Bradys first three-goal game as a Panther and the third hat trick of his NHL career. Matthew kept adding to the playmaking touch later in the game, leaving Florida with more than just a big offensive night and a little extra evidence that this pairing can make the middle of a game feel like a runaway. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Got Some Payback After That Ugly Hit On Balinskis
The Panthers came out of their 7-3 win over Columbus with more than just two points, because the league stepped in after Mathieu Oliviers slash on Uvis Balinskis. The Blue Jackets forwards night ended early, and the aftermath brought the kind of postgame attention that usually follows a particularly ugly sequence rather than a routine penalty.
Oliviers first supplemental discipline in the NHL career ledger now sits alongside a major penalty and an ejection, a sign of how quickly the play crossed the line. For Florida, it was a welcome bit of payback in the broader sense, with Balinskis still at the center of the story and the Panthers able to move on knowing the league took a hard look at what happened. [Read more 🡒]