The Florida Panthers became the first team in NHL history to record natural hat tricks in three consecutive games, finishing the run with an 8-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
Carter Verhaeghe scored three straight goals at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, while Sam Bennett added a hat trick of his own.
How the Record Run Unfolded
The streak started Tuesday when Brady Tkachuk scored three goals in a 7-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Tkachuk repeated the feat Thursday, completing his third goal in overtime to secure a 3-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks.
Verhaeghe kept it going Saturday, opening his account late in the first period with the game tied 1-1.
His next two goals helped Florida build a 4-1 lead before the Panthers closed out the 8-3 result.
A natural hat trick occurs when a player scores three consecutive goals without another player scoring in between.
According to Florida Hockey Now, the game also marked the first time in franchise history that two Panthers players recorded hat tricks in the same contest.
Bennett scored three times, including his first goal of the season, as Florida outshot Seattle 37-23.
The Panthers also dominated the shot-attempt battle, generating 77 attempts to Seattle's 43, per Pacific North Hockey.
Florida recorded 32 attempts in the first period and led 43-18 by the midpoint of the game.
Verhaeghe and Maurice on the Scoring Surge
Verhaeghe said the goals arrived naturally during the team's productive stretch.
"Sometimes they just come like that. It's pretty good to get a couple, get on the board, especially on the power play.
It feels good," he said.
Coach Paul Maurice pointed to Verhaeghe's effectiveness in crowded areas near the net, where quick decisions suit his shooting ability.
"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 entered the game with six goals through nine contests, tying Brady Tkachuk for Florida's team lead and placing both players sixth in the NHL scoring standings cited by Florida Hockey Now.
Last season, Verhaeghe needed 26 games to reach six goals, while in 2024-25 he reached that mark in his 23rd game.
Five of his six goals this season had come during Florida's previous three games.
Maurice also praised the speed of Verhaeghe's release and the progress of the team's offense early in the schedule.
"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.
According to Sports Yahoo, Florida became the third team in the past 30 years to record a hat trick of any kind in three consecutive games.
The 1992 Calgary Flames and the 1982 Edmonton Oilers each had stretches with hat tricks in four consecutive games, though neither achieved the Panthers' specific run of natural hat tricks.
The Panthers have now recorded four hat tricks this season, matching their combined total across the previous three regular seasons, according to Sports Yahoo.
For Seattle, the defeat ended a road trip that had included three consecutive victories and a 3-1-1 overall record.
The Kraken had lost in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday before facing Florida.
Seattle forward Freddy Gaudreau acknowledged the team's shortcomings after scoring his fifth goal in nine games.
"I don't know what to say, to be honest. Tough game," Gaudreau said.
Kraken coach Lane Lambert said his team failed to meet the demands of the matchup.
"We got beat in every area," Lambert said. "What I needed to see?
A lot more of everything."
Lambert rejected the team's travel schedule as an explanation, with Seattle completing a stretch of five road games in 10 days.
"We just needed to be better, that's all. We're not going to use physical energy, the length of the trip as an excuse," he said.
Seattle forward Shane Wright pointed to the level displayed by Florida and Tampa Bay as a standard his team needed to reach.
"The last two teams are some of the best teams in the league," Wright said.
"That's the level we want to get to, the speed, the intensity we need to get to."
Florida's next scheduled game is Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators, followed by a Thursday matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
