Brady Tkachuk scored twice in the final nine minutes of regulation, then completed his second straight natural hat trick 2:23 into overtime, leading the Florida Panthers’ 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday in Sunrise, Fla.
Tkachuk is the first player since the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews in February 2024 to record a hat trick in back-to-back games.
Panthers goalie Akira Schmid, making his third consecutive appearance and second straight start while Jacob Markstrom remains day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, stopped 15 shots.
Seth Jones logged two assists as the Panthers won consecutive contests for the first time this season.
Liam Ohgren and Elias Pettersson scored for Vancouver, which took its sixth loss in a row (0-5-1).
Merilainen, who allowed six goals in his previous two outings, was stout throughout the night, finishing with 36 saves as the Canucks dropped to 0-4-1 on a six-game road trip.
Down 2-0, Florida began its comeback. Tkachuk, who scored his first three goals with his new team during the Panthers’ 7-3 victory at Columbus on Tuesday, sent a one-time wrister past Vancouver goaltender Leevi Merilainen, with 8:49 remaining in the third period.
An Aaron Ekblad drop pass set up the tally.
With 13 seconds to go in regulation and Schmid pulled for an extra skater, Tkachuk got enough on a bouncing puck to score through traffic.
In overtime, the Panthers threatened from the start, and a streaking Tkachuk ended the contest, point blank on Merilainen.
Moments after killing off a Florida power play, the Canucks opened the scoring 7:23 into the first period on their first shot on goal. The Panthers struggled to clear their zone, and the puck found the stick of Vancouver’s Linus Karlsson, who sent it into the slot for Ohgren to one-time past Schmid.
The Canucks, outshot 15-7 through the first 20 minutes, made it 2-0 with 2:55 left in the opening period. Off a side-board scrum for the puck, it got out to Vancouver’s Filip Chytil, who sent a back-handed pass into the slot for a wide-open Pettersson to bury.
–Field Level Media
