Brady Tkachuk Rips Off Back-to-Back Hat Tricks in Panthers' OT Win

Hat Trick, Then Another: Tkachuk Stuns the Canucks

Brady Tkachuk completed his second straight natural hat trick with a move up the middle in overtime, giving the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night in Sunrise, Florida.

He started the rally with 8:49 to go, firing a shot from the top of the right circle past goalie Leevi Merilainen, and then — with goalie Akira Schmid off for an extra attacker — tied it with 13 seconds left on a one-timer from the right faceoff circle before finishing the comeback in overtime.

A Historic Two-Game Stretch After a Slow Start

The natural hat tricks — three consecutive goals each time — came in back-to-back games. That outburst followed an ice-cold debut stretch: zero points in his first five games with Florida.

The turnaround began when he was moved up to a line with his brother Matthew Tkachuk, and Yardbarker reports the brothers made history together in the Columbus blowout.

The Perfect Fit in Florida

Yardbarker's Adam Gretz argues Thursday's performance shows why Florida is the ideal landing spot for the former Ottawa captain.

In Ottawa, Tkachuk was the cornerstone — the captain and focal point everything was built around — and Gretz writes he is best suited as a second or third option on a contending team, not the best player on one.

In Florida, that burden falls on his brother and Aleksander Barkov, when he eventually returns from injury. The trade that united the Tkachuk brothers was one of the biggest moves of the offseason, and it now looks like it is paying off exactly as designed.

Canucks Keep Sliding, Panthers Host Seattle Next

The loss deepened Vancouver's misery: the Canucks have now lost six straight, the last five to open a six-game trip, per the Associated Press report carried by the Daily Independent.

Merilainen made 36 saves in defeat, and Liam Ohgren and Elias Pettersson scored first-period goals for Vancouver, which also traded Aatu Raty to Toronto for forwards Jacob Quillan and Brandon Buhr before the game.

Florida lost forward Eetu Luostarinen in the third period after a clean hit from Pettersson sent him crashing into the back boards. The Panthers host Seattle on Saturday night, while the Canucks visit Tampa Bay.

Sources

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