Brady Tkachuk Completes Second Straight Natural Hat Trick in Overtime as Panthers Stun Canucks 3-2

Brady Tkachuk scored all three Florida Panthers goals for his second consecutive natural hat trick, tying the game with 13 seconds left in regulation and then winning it 2:23 into overtime as the Panthers rallied past the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 Thursday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.

The comeback lifted Florida to 4-2-2 and extended a remarkable run for the forward the Panthers acquired from the Ottawa Senators on June 21. Tkachuk entered Tuesday's game in Columbus with no goals and one point through his first six games in a Florida sweater. Two nights and six goals later, he has seven points (six goals, one assist) and a place in franchise history.

According to the NHL, Tkachuk became the third Panthers player with hat tricks in consecutive games, joining Pavel Bure (Feb. 10 to 14, 2001) and Noel Acciari (Dec. 16 to 20, 2019). He is also the first NHL player with back-to-back hat tricks since Auston Matthews did it Feb. 15 to 17, 2024.

Down 2-0 for 51 minutes

For most of the night it looked like the Panthers would waste a lopsided shot advantage. Vancouver scored on its first shot of the game at 7:23 of the first period after Florida failed to clear the puck. Linus Karlsson collected it at the top of the zone and slid a pass through traffic to Liam Ohgren, who beat goaltender Akira Schmid through the five-hole with a skipping shot.

The Canucks made it 2-0 at 17:06 of the first during 4-on-4 play. Filip Chytil, making his season debut after a preseason shoulder injury, fed defenseman Elias Pettersson in the low slot from below the goal line, and Pettersson snapped his third goal of the season past Schmid.

From there Vancouver goaltender Leevi Merilainen held the line. Florida finished with 39 shots to Vancouver's 17, and Merilainen stopped 36 of them. The Panthers did not score until their 32nd shot of the night.

How the hat trick unfolded

Tkachuk finally broke through at 11:11 of the third period, firing a wrist shot from above the right circle off a pass from defenseman Aaron Ekblad to make it 2-1. His brother, Matthew Tkachuk, earned the second assist.

With Schmid pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute, Carter Verhaeghe found Tkachuk in the right circle, and Tkachuk one-timed the puck in off the far post at 19:47 to tie it 2-2. Seth Jones picked up the secondary assist.

In overtime, Tkachuk took a pass from Jones, cut up the middle and beat Merilainen with a wrist shot from the left hash marks at 2:23. Sam Reinhart also assisted on the winner. Because Tkachuk scored three straight goals with no other goal in between, it was his second natural hat trick in as many games. In Tuesday's 7-3 win at the Columbus Blue Jackets, he scored three consecutive goals in the second period.

The NHL also noted that Tkachuk became the second player in Panthers history to complete a hat trick in overtime. Captain Aleksander Barkov did it twice, on Dec. 15, 2018, and April 19, 2022.

What Tkachuk and the Panthers said

Tkachuk credited his teammates and the home crowd after the game.

"Today was pretty special," Tkachuk said, according to NHL.com. "To do it in front of this crowd, but of course, it's not just one guy out there. It took a group effort."

He also made clear that he sees the personal milestones as secondary. "My goal here is to do something special," he said. "It's not about the individual stuff."

Coach Paul Maurice said players who have succeeded in big moments can sense those moments and want them. Jones, who had assists on Florida's final two goals, called Tkachuk "a true gamer" and said he affects games with his physicality and tenacity around the net, not only with his scoring.

Ekblad, who set up the first goal, pointed to the team's resilience. "We needed that point, those points," he said, adding that he felt confident the Panthers would come back because they controlled much of the play.

A family connection on the scoresheet

Matthew Tkachuk has assisted on each of his younger brother's first four goals of the season, according to the NHL. The assist on Thursday's opening goal extended Matthew's point streak to seven games, with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) over that stretch.

The brothers combined for a big night in Columbus as well. The Panthers' 7-3 win there on Tuesday featured Brady's first hat trick with Florida and five assists from Matthew.

Schmid wins again; Luostarinen hurt

Schmid made 15 saves for his second straight win. He was rarely tested after the first period, as Vancouver managed just 17 shots in more than 62 minutes.

The Panthers did take a hit late in regulation. Forward Eetu Luostarinen left midway through the third period after crashing into the back boards off what The Associated Press described as a clean hit from Pettersson. The team did not immediately provide an update on his condition.

Neither team scored on the power play. Florida went 0 for 2 and Vancouver 0 for 3.

Canucks' skid reaches six

The loss was Vancouver's sixth straight (0-5-1), dropping the Canucks to 2-6-1. It was also their fifth straight loss on a six-game road trip, according to The Associated Press. Before the game, Vancouver traded forward Aatu Raty to the Toronto Maple Leafs for forwards Jacob Quillan and Brandon Buhr.

Canucks coach Manny Malhotra said his team played a much more complete game aside from the final 10 minutes, but that it again came up short. Pettersson said the Canucks battled hard for 60 minutes but are not getting the bounces right now.

Box score highlights

The key numbers from Thursday's game in Sunrise:

What's next

The Panthers stay home to host the Seattle Kraken at 6 p.m. Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena, according to the team's schedule. Seattle arrives in South Florida after a 4-3 overtime loss at Tampa Bay on Thursday, the latest stop on a long road trip.

After Saturday, Florida heads out on a four-game road swing that starts Wednesday, Oct. 21, in Ottawa, where Tkachuk will face the Senators, the team he captained before the June trade. The Panthers then visit Pittsburgh on Oct. 22, Chicago on Oct. 25 and Winnipeg on Oct. 27 before returning home to face the Jets on Oct. 30.

For a team that started the week 2-2-2, the two Tkachuk-powered wins have changed the tone of Florida's early season. Whether the newest Panther can chase a third straight hat trick, something no Florida player has done, will be one of the storylines when the puck drops Saturday night in Sunrise.