The Florida Panthers became the first team in NHL history to record natural hat tricks in three consecutive games, a streak that reached its peak on Saturday when Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett both scored three goals in an 8-3 win over the Seattle Kraken.
The Panthers hat trick streak started with Brady Tkachuk, who scored natural hat tricks in back-to-back wins over Columbus on Tuesday and Vancouver on Thursday. Florida then closed out the week with two more hat trick performances against Seattle, giving the team four hat tricks in three games.
The Main Development
Verhaeghe and Bennett each scored natural hat tricks on Oct. 17, 2026, marking the first time in franchise history that two Panthers players recorded hat tricks in the same game, according to NHL.com. The pair’s combined six goals powered Florida past Seattle 8-3.
That performance capped a three-game run that began with Tkachuk’s natural hat trick in a win over the Blue Jackets and continued two days later when he did it again against the Canucks. Three different Panthers scoring three goals apiece across three straight games is the feat that set the NHL record, per ESPN.
What It Means
Florida’s four hat tricks over the three-game stretch match the team’s combined total from the previous three complete regular seasons, according to ESPN. The Panthers also became only the third team in 30 years to produce a hat trick of any kind in three consecutive games, a span that covers hundreds of NHL regular seasons across the league.
The concentration of scoring punch also reflects a roster reshaped by offseason moves. Tkachuk arrived in Florida through a June 2026 trade with the Ottawa Senators, and he has wasted little time becoming part of the Panthers’ offensive identity this season.
Context: A Reshaped Panthers Roster
Saturday’s game carried an added subplot. Mackie Samoskevich, traded to Seattle in June 2026, returned to Florida for the first time as a visiting player. Samoskevich scored 27 goals in 156 games with the Panthers over three seasons and was part of the team’s 2025 Stanley Cup championship roster before the trade sent him to the Kraken.
His return added context to a night that otherwise belonged to the players still wearing red and navy. Verhaeghe and Bennett have both been fixtures in Florida’s lineup during its recent run of playoff success, and their simultaneous hat tricks showed the kind of secondary scoring depth that has carried the Panthers through the first three weeks of the season.
What’s Next
The Panthers will look to carry their scoring surge into their next game as they try to build on a three-game stretch that already stands as the best hat trick run in NHL history. Florida’s recent form includes two other hat trick performances detailed in Total Apex Sports’ coverage of the win over the Blue Jackets and the win over the Canucks, along with a tight road result in the team’s overtime win over the Sharks.
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