5 TAKEAWAYS: Reinhart notches hat trick in win over Flyers

SUNRISE, Fla. -In a game full of individual accolades, Sam Reinhart recorded his sixth-career hat trick to help guide the Panthers to a 6-3 win over the Flyers at FLA Live Arena on Thursday.
Also enjoying personal milestones, Jonathan Huberdeau broke his own franchise record for assists in a single season (64), Anthony Duclair reached a new career-high total in points (45), and Carter Verhaeghe lit the lamp twice to lock down the first 20-goal campaign of his career.

"I obviously really enjoy it," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "They're doing it in the right way. They're doing it in a team environment, doing the right things. It's not a year where they're just looking for their own points and not playing a team game.
"I think they've bought in. For a coach, nothing's more rewarding than seeing them get rewarded for what they've done. We've still got a lot of hockey left and they can pile up the numbers, hopefully, and keep going at the rate they're going."
Refusing to slow down, Verhaeghe opened the scoring for the Panthers when he took a pass from Aleksander Barkov, skated down into the slot, turned and sniped a shot past Carter Hart to extend his scoring streak to three games and make it a 1-0 game just 3:25 into the first period.

Fanning the flames of Florida's scorching power play, Reinhart helped the Panthers pull away later in the opening period when he scored twice with the man advantage - both of his goals coming right around the blue paint - at 14:12 and 18:11, respectively, to make it a 3-0 game.
Adding a second goal of his own, Verhaeghe once again showed off his lethal shot when he carried the puck into the high slot and ripped another wrister past Hart to make it 4-0 at 19:30.
In the second period, the Flyers pushed back.
After Kevin Hayes intercepted a pass behind the net before setting up James van Riemsdyk for a goal from the slot to trim Philadelphia's deficit to 4-1 at 9:01, Cam Atkinson swatted a floating rebound past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 4-2 a little more than three minutes later at 12:23.
At 18:52, Travis Konecny tipped in a shot from Cam York on the power play to make it 4-3.
"It's hard," Brunette said of the middle frame. "You're up 4-0 in games, and it's hard to keep your focus. They're only human and they're going to have lapses. We had a little lapse. We don't have too many on home ice, but we were able to regroup after the period and go back to work."
Getting one of those goals back for the Panthers in the third period, Duclair, who remains absolutely on fire, lit the lamp on the power play for the fourth straight game when his centering feed took a nice bounce off a defender's stick and went into the twine to make it 5-3 at 6:59.
With the Flyers pulling their goaltender late in favor of a 6-on-5 advantage, Huberdeau passed up an easy empty-net goal in favor of sending the rubber over to Reinhart, who tapped the dish into the cage to complete his hat trick and put the Panthers up 6-3 with 2:06 left on the clock.
"He knows what's going on all the time," Brunette said of Huberdeau's passing skills. "He's an extremely unselfish player. You don't have [64] assists without being very aware, very perceptive, highly intelligent and unselfish. He demonstrated all of those things tonight."
The third team in the NHL to reach the 40-win plateau, the Panthers, who have won each of their last five games, now sit at 40-13-5 and own a five-point cushion atop the Atlantic Division.
After making the home crowd happy, they'll now play their next seven games on the road.
"We're ready for it," Verhaeghe said of the upcoming trek outside of South Florida. "We love being at home and playing in front of our fans, but I think it's going to be good bonding."
Here are five takeaways from Thursday's win in Sunrise…

1. MAKE IT TWENTY

Verhaeghe is clearly feeling very, very good right now.
After going six games without a goal, the skilled scorer found the back of the net twice in the first period against the Flyers to extend his goal streak to three games. Known for his pinpoint accuracy and ability to fire the puck in stride, both of his goals came on snipes from the slot.

"I had two good looks right in the slot," Verhaeghe said. "I just tried to shoot as hard as I could."
Achieving the first 20-goal season of his career, Verhaeghe's 46 points are also already 10 more than his previous career-best of 36 from 2020-21. During his four-game point streak, he's accumulated six points (four goals, two assists) while skating on the team's vaunted top line.
Putting together another strong possession game, Florida led 22-6 in shot attempts when the line of Verhaeghe, Barkov and Maxim Mamin was deployed at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.
"Our line was buzzing in the first," Verhaeghe said. "It kind of kept going throughout the game."

2. REINO'S CHARGE

When there's a Reino around the net, what can a goaltender do?
Netting a pair of goals on the power play in the first period within a span of 3:59, Reinhart struck first when he tipped in a shot from Huberdeau from right on the doorstep. Showing off his hand-eye coordination, he then battered a puck out of mid-air and in from almost the same exact spot.
His second baseball-style goal this week, maybe he can now moonlight in the MLB?

"They're nice ones to get, just kind of in tight," he smiled when asked about his batting average.
With help from Huberdeau, Reinhart later completed the sixth hat trick of his career and second of the season when No. 11 set him up for an empty-net goal to seal the game in the third period.
"Before the shift I told him, 'If you're open, I'm going to pass it to you.' Huberdeau said of the unselfish sequence. "I saw him coming, and it was great. He's been playing so well this year."
Indeed he has.
Third on the team in scoring with 57 points (22 goals, 35 assists), Reinhart has earned at least one point in 12 of his last 14 games, racking up 10 goals and 10 assists during that sweet span.
With eight more points, he'll match the career-high 65 he posted with Buffalo in 2018-19.

3. EVEN MORE POWER

Another game, another power play goal for Duclair.
Cementing himself as a key cog on the top unit, the speedy forward found the back of the net for the fourth straight game with the extra attacker when his centering feed caught a piece of a defender's stick in the slot and sailed past Hart to put the Panthers up 5-3 in the third period.

"Getting that goal was huge on the power play," Verhaeghe said.
Owning the top power play in the NHL since Jan. 1, the Panthers have been particularly surgical in their execution over their last six outings while going 12-for-25 (48%) with the extra attacker.
"I think we've been winning some battles, extending some plays," Reinhart said. "I think you look 5-6 games ago, and maybe it was just overthinking a little bit. When you tend to do that, you try and force plays a little too much as opposed to just reading and reacting. We have enough skill out there to just trust our system a little bit and simplify. We've been having success with that."
Hitting two milestones with one shot, Duclair, who has seven goals on the power play this season, reached new career-best marks in goals (24) and points (45) with his timely tally.

4. A HELPING HAND

Huberdeau is starting to break his own records.
With four assists against the Flyers, the Hart Trophy candidate increased his league-leading total to the 64, breaking his previous single-season franchise record of 62 set back in 2018-19.

"It's been a good year," the all-star winger said. "I feel that we're getting points - everybody's getting points. We have a lot of depth. It's just been a fun year. We're scoring a lot of goals. I was just happy to get the two points. It's a franchise record, but it doesn't really matter to me."
In contention for some end-of-season hardware, Huberdeau, at the time of this writing, stands alone atop the NHL's scoring list with 82 points in 58 games. A model of offensive consistency, he's cracked the scoresheet in 25 of his last 28 games while dishing out 41 assists in that span.
"A heck of an achievement," Reinhart said of the record. "It's nothing new to see out of him."

5. NEW CAT ON THE BLOCK

The Panthers got their first look at Petteri Lindbohm tonight.
Inking a one-year deal on March 1 after helping lead Finland to a gold medal at the Winter Olympics last month, the big-bodied defenseman racked up three hits, two blocked shots and one takeaway while seeing 12:14 of ice time alongside Brandon Montour on the third pairing.
Showing off his impressive strength, he unleashed a massive hit on Scott Laughton in the second period, which also led to him dropping the gloves and fighting with Konecny.
"I was really impressed with him," Brunette said. "I thought he managed the game really well. I thought he brought a little physicality to the game, a little hardness. You could tell he was a veteran. In the third period he did a lot of smart things."
Although he was playing with Jokerit in the KHL prior to signing with the Panthers, Lindbohm is no stranger to the NHL. Still only 28 years old, he appeared in 41 contests over parts of three seasons with the Blues from 2014-17 after being taken in the sixth round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
"Just happy to see him have a good first game," Huberdeau said.

BONUS: ASSISTS FOR EK

As he continues to push for the Norris Trophy, we can't forget about Aaron Ekblad.
With four assists against the Flyers, Ekblad became just the third defenseman franchise history to register that many in one game, joining Bryan McCabe (2010) and Brian Campbell (2011).
Fifth in scoring among NHL blueliners, he's recorded a career-high 54 points (15 goals, 39 assists) already this season.