Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett Hat Tricks Power Panthers Past Kraken 8-3 in Record Night

Carter Verhaeghe scored three straight goals for a natural hat trick, Sam Bennett added a hat trick of his own, and the Florida Panthers routed the Seattle Kraken 8-3 on Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. Before a crowd of 19,169, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission, made it 6-1 in the second period and coasted from there for a third straight win.

The night belonged to the record book as much as the scoreboard. Brady Tkachuk had recorded natural hat tricks in each of Florida's previous two games, and Verhaeghe's made the Panthers the first team in NHL history to have a player score a natural hat trick in three consecutive games, according to NHL.com. It was also the first time in franchise history that two Panthers players recorded hat tricks in the same game.

How the scoring unfolded

Bennett needed only 65 seconds to open the scoring, batting in the rebound of a Matthew Tkachuk shot at 1:05 of the first period. Seattle answered at 4:54 when Shane Wright tipped in a feed from rookie Berkly Catton to tie it 1-1.

Verhaeghe then took over late in the period. He beat Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord with a slap shot at 17:56, set up by Sam Reinhart, and scored again on the power play just 1:11 later, at 19:07, with Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk assisting. He completed the hat trick at 6:02 of the second period, finishing at the left post after defenseman Niko Mikkola came around the net on a wraparound.

Mikkola scored himself 40 seconds later, at 6:42, to make it 5-1. Bennett picked up his second goal at 13:13 off a cross-ice pass from Brady Tkachuk, and Frederick Gaudreau got one back for Seattle at 19:05 of the second to make it 6-2.

Reinhart restored the five-goal margin with a power-play slap shot at 2:25 of the third, and Ryker Evans answered for Seattle 84 seconds later. Bennett finished the scoring at 11:14, one-timing a pass from defenseman Uvis Balinskis for his third goal of the night.

The scoring sequence, by period:

A hat-trick run without precedent

Florida's recent scoring burst started on the road. Brady Tkachuk, acquired from Ottawa in a June trade, scored a natural hat trick in the second period of a 7-3 win at Columbus on Tuesday. On Thursday at Amerant Bank Arena he did it again against the Vancouver Canucks, scoring twice in the third period, including the tying goal with 13 seconds left, and then winning the game 3-2 at 2:23 of overtime. He became the first player since Auston Matthews in February 2024 to record hat tricks in back-to-back games.

Saturday's pair of hat tricks gave Florida four in its last three games. According to NHL.com, the Panthers are the first team in more than 100 years to record four or more hat tricks before their 10th game of a season; the last was the 1922-23 Toronto St. Patricks, who had five. Florida is also only the second team in the past 105 years with four or more hat tricks over a span of three games or fewer, joining the 1981 Quebec Nordiques. The Associated Press noted that the four hat tricks already match Florida's total from its previous three regular seasons combined.

Verhaeghe's hat trick was the fifth of his NHL career and lifted him to six goals this season, level with Brady Tkachuk for the team lead. Bennett's three goals were his first of the season and the fourth hat trick of his career, and the last one gave him 400 career NHL points: 191 goals and 209 assists in 776 games.

Tkachuk brothers keep producing

Matthew Tkachuk had three assists, extending his point streak to eight games with 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in that span. NHL.com reported that he joined Aleksander Barkov as the only Panthers players with 10 assists in the team's first 10 games of a season. Brady Tkachuk added two assists, and the brothers have now factored on a goal together in three straight games, something no pair of brothers had done since Daniel and Henrik Sedin for Vancouver in 2018.

Matthew Tkachuk did give Florida a brief scare. He collided with Bennett early in the third period, returned for one more shift, then sat out the final 8:46. Coach Paul Maurice called it precautionary and said Tkachuk would likely be back at practice Monday, according to NHL.com.

Mikkola and Reinhart each finished with a goal and an assist, and Seth Jones extended his own point streak to four games with an assist on Reinhart's power-play goal. Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves on 23 shots. Florida outshot Seattle 37-23 and went 2-for-3 on the power play while killing all four Kraken advantages.

Seattle's side, and a familiar face

Daccord stopped 29 of 37 shots, and Seattle's loss closed a 3-1-1 road trip. Kaapo Kakko and Catton each had two assists. Kraken coach Lane Lambert said his team was beaten in every area, according to NHL.com, while Wright called it a game that was just not their night.

The game also marked the return of Mackie Samoskevich to Sunrise. The forward scored 27 goals in 156 games with Florida over three seasons and had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup after the 2025 title. The Panthers traded him to Seattle in June for two draft picks, one of which helped complete the deal that brought Brady Tkachuk to Florida, the AP reported. Samoskevich entered with three goals and an assist in seven games for Seattle but was held without a point Saturday.

Winning without Barkov and Marchand

The surge has come with two of Florida's most important forwards on injured reserve. Barkov, the captain, was hurt Oct. 1 in a 4-3 overtime loss at San Jose, his second game of the season, and was expected to miss six to eight weeks, according to NHL.com. He missed all of the 2025-26 season after knee surgery. Brad Marchand scored in his season debut on Oct. 4 but was injured two days later in a 2-1 win at Los Angeles; Maurice said Oct. 9 that Marchand would be out about six weeks with a lower-body injury.

Florida had lost two straight in regulation, to Minnesota at home and at Buffalo, before this three-game winning streak, and the offense has carried the turnaround: the Panthers have scored 18 goals in those three wins. At 5-2-2, Florida has 12 points, tied with Tampa Bay and Ottawa, two behind Atlantic Division leader Boston.

Maurice told NHL.com that the speed of the team's offensive game was coming together, and Verhaeghe described his three-goal stretch with a shrug, saying sometimes the goals just come like that.

What's next

The Panthers now leave South Florida for a four-game road trip that begins with a pointed homecoming. The first stop is Ottawa, where Brady Tkachuk spent his career before the trade.

Wednesday's game in Ottawa is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Seattle returns home to host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.