Might be time to buy another hat in Sunrise.
The Florida Panthers lit up the Seattle Kraken 8-3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday, with Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett each turning in hat tricks in a performance that kept the goals coming from the first shift to the final horn.
Bennett got the night rolling just 65 seconds in, batting a floating puck past Joey Daccord for the opening goal. Matthew Tkachuk picked up an assist on the play and pushed his point streak to eight games. Over that stretch, No. 19 has piled up 14 points, with three goals and 11 assists.
“He's been unbelievable,” Bennett said of Matthew. “Hunting pucks, all over the net.
He's been making great plays, and he's really just driving our offense right now. He's on top of his game right now.”
Seattle answered quickly when Shane Wright tied it 1-1 at 4:54, but the Panthers took over from there. Verhaeghe put Florida back in front at 17:56 with a top-shelf finish, then struck again on the power play at 19:07 to send the Panthers into the first intermission up 3-1.
He kept it rolling early in the second period, completing the natural hat trick at 6:02 to make it 4-1.
"Felt pretty good to get a couple and get on the board, especially on the power play there,” said Verhaeghe.
The barrage didn’t stop there. Niko Mikkola ripped one bar down at 6:42 to stretch the lead to 5-1, and Bennett added his second of the game at 13:13 after finishing a feed from Brady Tkachuk to make it 6-1.
Freddy Gaudreau got one back for Seattle with 55 seconds left in the period, but the Panthers had already done the damage.
In the third, Sam Reinhart buried a power-play goal from the slot at 2:25 to push the lead to 7-2. Ryker Evans answered for the Kraken at 12:07, but Bennett finished off his own hat trick at 11:14 to make it 8-3 and send the hats flying again.
With that goal, Bennett reached 400 career points.
“It’s awesome getting that support from the fans and all my teammates coming up to me,” Bennett said of his point recognition. “It’s been quite a while in this league, and you can definitely appreciate all the moments.”
The night also carried a piece of NHL history. With Verhaeghe’s natural hat trick, following Brady Tkachuk’s two, the Panthers became the first team in NHL history to record a natural hat trick in three straight games.
“I thought we did a great job of getting on the forecheck, putting them under a lot of pressure, and then creating the turnovers and that was where we were able to get some chances,” Bennett said after the win.
Head coach Paul Maurice said the offense is starting to find a rhythm.
“The speed of our offensive game is coming together,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “Now you’re starting to see some chemistry start to form with different players.”
Verhaeghe kept his postgame message simple.
“Yeah, let's keep it turned on. It feels good.”
Jacob Markstrom also credited the group in front of him.
"The guys played an unbelievable game in front of me and that really helps, as well."
Maurice said Matthew Tkachuk’s exit in the third period was just precautionary.
“That was precautionary. I don't expect there to be any holdover on that.”
The stat line was loaded across the board. Matthew and Brady Tkachuk have now factored on a goal together in three straight games.
Bennett, Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk each finished with three points. Mikkola had three shots.
And the Panthers became the first team in over 100 years to record four or more hat tricks before their 10th game of the season.
Florida now heads out on a four-game road trip, starting Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
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What made this outburst even more notable is that he shared the spotlight with Sam Bennett in a way the Panthers had never seen before. It was the first time in franchise history that two Florida players each scored a natural hat trick in the same game, a rare kind of offensive eruption that says plenty about how well the top end of the lineup is clicking right now. [Read more 🡒]