SUNRISE - Carter Verhaeghe scored a natural hat trick Saturday night as the Florida Panthers routed the Seattle Kraken 8-3, making NHL history as the first team to record three natural hat tricks in three consecutive games.
Verhaeghe’s first goal came late in the first period with Florida tied 1-1, and by the time he completed the hat trick, the Panthers led 4-1. Sam Bennett also scored three goals in the same game - the first time in Panthers history two players each accomplished the feat in a single contest, Florida Hockey Now reported.
“Sometimes they just come like that,” Verhaeghe said. “It’s pretty good to get a couple, get on the board, especially on the power play. It feels good.”
The historic night capped a three-game stretch in which Brady Tkachuk had posted natural hat tricks in wins at Columbus and Thursday against Vancouver. Verhaeghe now has six goals through nine games, tied with Tkachuk for the team lead and tied for sixth in the NHL. Last season it took Verhaeghe until Game No. 26 to reach six goals; the year before, he did not get his sixth until Florida’s 23rd game.
Coach Paul Maurice credited Verhaeghe’s linemates for creating the conditions in which the winger thrives. “He is better with more traffic,” Maurice said. “It’s the chaos. I thought both his linemates did a really good job of creating that with some short-area plays. He doesn’t need much time. Actually, he excels when there isn’t any.”
Verhaeghe is currently on pace for 56 goals. His career-best regular-season output was 42 goals in 2022-23, followed by 34 the next season. He scored 25 goals last season, half of them between December and January. He has also been a postseason force, tallying 31 goals in Florida’s 78 playoff games over the past four postseason runs. Of his 16 shots on goal this season, seven have come from right around the goal mouth.
“When he is right in his game, and I think he has been all year, it is on and off his stick before the goalie can react,” Maurice said. “It’s impressive to watch both of those shots. We have seen him shoot the puck like that before. What’s good is, at the 10-game mark, you want enough guys feeling - especially the ones who put pressure on themselves to produce - to be feeling good about their game.”
The Panthers carry that momentum into Game 10 on Wednesday, when they travel to face the Ottawa Senators at Canada Tire Center at 7:30 p.m. Florida won the teams’ last meeting 3-1. Ottawa leads the all-time regular-season series 60-51-6 with three ties. The Panthers then visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.