Verhaeghe, Bennett continue Panthers hat trick streak in win against Kraken

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett each had a hat trick to lead the Florida Panthers to their third straight victory, 8-3 against the Seattle Kraken at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Verhaeghe’s was a natural hat trick, making the Panthers the first team in NHL history to have players record one in three straight games. Brady Tkachuk had a natural hat trick in each of Florida’s previous two games.

Before Saturday, the Panthers never had two players with a hat trick in the same game.

“Sometimes they just come like that,” Verhaeghe said. “It’s pretty good to get a couple, get on the board, especially on the power play. It feels good.”

Bennett was just happy to get his first goal of the season. 

“You’re going to have games where things don’t seem to go in,” Bennett said, “and other nights, it seems like everything goes your way. You just have to stick with it.”

Florida is also the first team in over 100 years to record four or more hat tricks before its 10th game of the season. The last team to do it was the Toronto St. Patricks (five in 1922-23).

The Panthers became the second team in the past 105 years to record four or more hat tricks over a three-game span or fewer, with the Quebec Nordiques getting five in two games from Feb. 20-22, 1981. 

“The speed of our offensive game is coming together,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “Now, you’re starting to see some chemistry form with different players. I liked the pace we played at.”

Niko Mikkola and Sam Reinhart each had a goal and an assist, Matthew Tkachuk had three assists, and Brady Tkachuk had two assists for the Panthers (5-2-2). Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves.

Shane Wright, Frederick Gaudreau and Ryker Evans scored for the Kraken (5-3-1), who were 3-0-1 in their previous four games. Berkly Catton and Kaapo Kakko each had two assists, and Joey Daccord made 29 saves.

“We got beat in every area,” said Seattle coach Lane Lambert, whose team completed a 3-1-1 road trip. “What did I need to see? A lot more everything. … Tonight was not good, but the trip was good. Seven out of 10 points? We’ll move on. We have a really important game Tuesday (against the Detroit Red Wings). That’s going to be our focus from here.”

Bennett gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 1:05 of the first period when he batted in the rebound of a Matthew Tkachuk shot.

Wright tied it 1-1 at 4:54, knocking in a centering feed from Catton.

Verhaeghe scored two goals late in the period — the first at 17:56 and the second at 19:07 on the power play — to give Florida a 3-1 lead going into the second.

“It’s hard to pinpoint one thing (that went wrong),” Wright said. “Just not our night. They obviously were a much better team. We just have to get home and regroup. … Tough response to their goals. At the end of the period there, then two quick ones to start the second. Kind of deflating.”

The Panthers made it 4-1 at 6:02 of the second when Verhaeghe scored his third straight goal. He finished at the left post following Mikkola’s wraparound attempt.

Mikkola did score 40 seconds later when his wrist shot from above the left face-off circle extended it to 5-1 at 6:42.

Bennett made it 6-1 at 13:13, scoring off a cross-ice feed from Brady Tkachuk, before Gaudreau pulled the Kraken to within 6-2 at 19:05 by driving in and putting a low shot past Markstrom.

Reinhart pushed the lead to 7-2 on the power play at 2:25 of the third period. Matthew Tkachuk sent a no-look cross-ice pass to Reinhart, who scored with a one-timer from the top of the slot.

Evans’ shot from the point then cut it to 7-3 at 3:49.

“They capitalized on their opportunities and we gave them too many dangerous chances,” Gaudreau said. “It’s a game you never want to happen.”

Bennett completed his hat trick at 11:14. He one-timed a feed from Uvis Balinskis in the left circle for the 8-3 final.

“I thought he had three great chances last game and they just didn’t go for him,” Maurice said of Bennett. “He’s a smart player and he knew, with the guys on his wings, it would just be a matter of time. I thought he did a good job staying patient and doing all the right things. We got rewarded.”

NOTES: Matthew Tkachuk extended his point streak to eight games (14 points; three goals, 11 assists) and joined Aleksander Barkov as the only Panthers players to record 10 assists within his first 10 games of a season. Tkachuk has played nine games; Barkov did it in seven games in 2024-25. Tkachuk eventually left the game after colliding with Bennett early the third, taking one more shift midway through the period and not playing in the final 8:46. Maurice said removing him was precautionary and that the forward likely would return to practice Monday. … Matthew and Brady Tkachuk factored on a goal together for the third straight game, becoming the first two brothers to accomplish it since Daniel and Henrik Sedin accomplished did it for the Vancouver Canucks during a five-game stretch in 2018. … With his third goal, Bennett reached 400 career NHL points. He has 191 goals and 209 assists in 776 games. … Florida defenseman Seth Jones had an assist to extend his point streak to four games (nine assists).