Brady Tkachuk’s second straight hat trick completes Panthers’ comeback

Brady Tkachuk scored three unanswered goals, including the tying goal in the final seconds of regulation and the winner at 2:23 of overtime, to bring the Florida Panthers back from a two-goal deficit for a 3–2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, October 15.

It was his second natural hat trick in as many games. Two nights earlier, Tkachuk scored three consecutive goals in the second period of Florida’s 7–3 win at Columbus. He had six goals and an assist across the two victories, with all three Panthers goals against Vancouver coming from his stick.

From the rush to the overtime winner

Vancouver led 2–0 after first-period goals by Liam Ohgren and defenseman Elias Pettersson. Leevi Meriläinen kept that lead intact into the third period, finishing with 36 saves on 39 shots. Florida’s first goal came at 11:11 of the third, when Aaron Ekblad carried the puck into the attacking zone and left it for Tkachuk, who quickly released a shot from outside the left circle.

The equalizer came with Akira Schmid pulled for an extra attacker. Carter Verhaeghe supplied the pass for Tkachuk’s one-timer from the right circle, with Matthew Tkachuk providing traffic in front. Seth Jones received the secondary assist. Florida had gone from needing two goals late in the third period to forcing overtime.

Tkachuk finished it from the left circle in the extra period. He carried the puck inside the blue line, pulled it across his body and sent a wrist shot past Meriläinen. Jones and Sam Reinhart assisted. The three finishes came during a rush, a six-on-five attack and three-on-three overtime.

A third name in Panthers history

Tkachuk joined Pavel Bure and Noel Acciari as the only Panthers to record hat tricks in consecutive games. Bure did it on February 10 and 14, 2001. Acciari followed on December 16 and 20, 2019. Tkachuk’s pair came on October 13 and 15.

The most recent NHL player to achieve consecutive-game hat tricks before Tkachuk was Auston Matthews in 2024. Matthews scored three against Philadelphia on February 15 and three against Anaheim on February 17 for Toronto.

Tkachuk is in his first Florida season after eight with Ottawa. The Panthers acquired him from the Senators in June, making him an NHL teammate of his brother Matthew. His final Ottawa season produced 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points in 60 games in 2025–26.

All six of Tkachuk’s goals this season have come in his past two games. He finished Thursday with six shots in 19:59 of ice time. Jones had two assists, while Schmid stopped all 10 shots he faced after the first period and finished with 15 saves.