Two Canadians recorded hat tricks for the Florida Panthers in the same game on Saturday in an 8-3 Panthers win over the Seattle Kraken at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. Sam Bennett of Holland Landing, Ontario recorded his fourth career hat trick and Carter Verhaeghe of Toronto, Ontario recorded his fifth career hat trick.
It was an historic hat trick for Verhaeghe as the Panthers became the first team in NHL history to have a player record a natural hat trick in three straight games. Former Ottawa Senator Brady Tkachuk scored three goals in a row on Tuesday in a 7-3 Panthers win over the Columbus Blue Jackets and three more goals in a row on Thursday in a 3-2 Panthers win over the Vancouver Canucks. These were the first six goals Tkachuk scored with the Panthers.
In the Panthers’s win over the Kraken on Saturday, Bennett opened the scoring at 1:05 of the first period from former Calgary Flame Matthew Tkachuk. Verhaeghe then put the Panthers up 2-1 from Sam Reinhart of West Vancouver, British Columbia with two minutes and four seconds left in the first period. Then with 53 seconds left in the first period, Verhaeghe scored from Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk on the power play to put the Panthers up 3-1. Verhaeghe’s hat trick came at 6:02 of the second period was the game-winning goal from Niko Mikkola and Lars Eller to put the Panthers up 4-1. Bennett scored his second of the game at 13:13 of the second period from Brady Tkachuk and defenseman Gustav Forsling to put the Panthers up 6-1. Bennett’s hat trick closed the scoring at 11:14 of the third period from defensemen Uvis Balinskis and Dmitry Kulikov.
Three Canadians had a multi-point game for the Panthers. In addition to Bennett and Verhaeghe having three points each, Reinhart had one goal and one assist for two points.
Bennett’s first National Hockey League hat trick came with the Calgary Flames ironically against the Florida Panthers in a 6-0 Flames win on January 13, 2016. It was a four goal game for the Flames. Bennett then scored thrice in a 5-1 Panthers win over the New York Islanders on October 16, 2021 and in a 7-1 Panthers win over the Dallas Stars on January 14, 2022.
Verhaeghe’s first NHL hat trick came with the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 9-2 Lightning win over the Vancouver Canucks on January 7, 2020. He also scored thrice in a 4-3 Panthers win over the Stars on March 27, 2021, four times in a 7-0 Panthers win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 1, 2023, and thrice in a 6-3 Panthers win over the New York Islanders on February 2, 2025.
This was the first time since March 9, 2003 that two Canadians recorded a hat trick in the same NHL game. Eric Daze of Montreal, Quebec and Steve Sullivan of Timmins, Ontario each scored three times in an 8-5 Chicago Blackhawks win over the Boston Bruins.
For the season, Bennett had three goals and three assists for six points in nine games. He is a +5 with four penalty minutes, 21 shots on goal, 59 faceoff wins, two blocked shots, 23 hits, one takeaway and 10 giveaways.
In nine games this season, Verhaeghe has six goals and two assists for eight points. He is a +6 with two penalty minutes, two power-play points, two game-winning goals, 16 shots in goal, three faceoff wins, two blocked shots, three hits, one takeaway, and five giveaways.
Verhaeghe’s other game-winning goal this season came on October 13 in a 7-3 Panthers win over the Blue Jackets. Verhaeghe put the Panthers up 4-1 with two minutes and 10 seconds left on the power-play. Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk had the assists.
Both of Verhaeghe’s assists also came in Panthers wins. The first came on September 29, in a 1-0 Panthers win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Verhaeghe set up Forsling with five seconds left in overtime. Verhaeghe then set up Brady Tkachuk with 13 seconds left in the third period to tie the game at two in a 3-2 Panthers win over the Vancouver Canucks on October 15. Verhaeghe’s blocked shots came in the Panthers’s 1-0 win over the Hurricanes on September 29 and in their 7-3 win over the Blue Jackets on October 13.
With the win over the Kraken, the Panthers improved to a record of five wins, two regulation losses and two losses in extra time for 12 points. They are in a second place tie in the Atlantic Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators. All three teams are two points back of the division leading Boston Bruins.
