Florida Panthers winger Matt Tkachuk of Scottsdale, Arizona recorded his fifth career National Hockey league hat trick. He accomplished the feat on Thursday in a 5-2 Panthers win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.
How and when the three goals were scored
With the game tied at one goal apiece after the opening period, Tkachuk scored the only two goals in the second period. The first goal came on the power-play at 3:59 from Sam Reinhart of West Vancouver, British Columbia and Brandon Montour of Brantford, Ontario to put the Panthers up 2-1. The second goal was the game-winning goal and was even strength at 5:57. Anton Lundell of Espoo, Finland and Aaron Ekblad of Windsor, Ontario had the assists as the Panthers went up 3-1. Then in the third period, Tkachuk closed out the scoring with an empty net goal from captain Aleksander Barkov of Tampere, Finland and Sam Reinhart of West Vancouver, British Columbia. Tkachuk also had a four point night as he added an assist on a goal by Lundell.
Matt Tkachuk 2022-23 NHL Statistics
For the second straight season, Tkachuk has now eclipsed the 100-point plateau in total points. After notching 104 points with the Calgary Flames in 2021-22, he has 101 points this season in Florida. In 73 games, Tkachuk has 38 goals and 63 assists, and is a +26 with 92 penalty minutes, 33 power-play points, one shorthanded point, four game-winning goals, 294 shots on goal, 13 faceoff wins, 30 blocked shots, 57 hits, 35 takeaways and 58 giveaways.
Four Prior Hat Tricks
Tkachuk had a hat trick earlier this season on January 3 in a 5-3 Panthers win over the Arizona Coyotes. Tkachuk’s three prior hat tricks were with the Flames. He scored thrice on March 10, 2019 in a 6-3 Flames win over the Vegas Golden Knights, three more times on April 12, 2022 in a 5-3 Flames win over the Seattle Kraken, and three more times on May 18, 2022 in a 9-6 Flames win over the Edmonton Oilers in game one of the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
One point back of a playoff spot
With the win, the Panthers improved to a record of 38 wins, 31 regulation losses and seven losses in extra time. With 83 points, they are one point back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
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