Brady Tkachuk makes Panthers history with rare back-to-back hat trick feat

It may have taken Brady Tkachuk seven games to score his first goal for the Florida Panthers, but it only took him eight games to enter the team's record books. Down 2-0 to the Vancouver Canucks, Tkachuk had two goals in the third period, including the game-tying tally with just 13 seconds left. Then, in overtime, he had the extra period's first great scoring chance before burying the winner at 2:23.

Tkachuk’s three goals against the Canucks marked his second consecutive natural hat trick, following the three straight he had in the second against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Surprisingly, he’s not the first Florida player to record hat tricks in back-to-back games; however, he is the first to record two natural hat tricks in consecutive contests. Who shares the history books with him?

Pavel Bure remains the Panthers' all-time hat trick leader

Hall of Famer Pavel Bure played parts of four seasons with the Panthers, scoring 152 goals in 223 games and recording 10 hat tricks. Overall, the Russian Rocket had 21 three-goal games in his career, with 48% of them coming in a Florida sweater. Naturally, he was the first skater to record hat tricks in back-to-back games: on Feb. 10, 2001, against the Atlanta Thrashers, and again four nights later, on Feb. 14, 2001, against the Phoenix Coyotes.

In the first game, Bure scored in every period, including two in the third, for a four-goal game, his first such contest in eight seasons. Against the Coyotes, Bure rallied the Panthers from a 2-0 deficit with two second-period goals and the first third-period goal for a natural hat trick. Interestingly, Bure scored two more hat tricks in March, but over four games. 

Noel Acciari accomplished a rare feat in 2019

Journeyman forward Noel Acciari, an undrafted player, has scored three career hat tricks, all with the Panthers during his three-year stint from 2019 to 2022. In 127 games, he scored 27 goals, becoming only the second skater in team history to record back-to-back hat tricks. Eighteen years after Bure, Acciari scored his first career hat trick on Dec. 16, 2019, against the Ottawa Senators. He scored one in the first period and two in the second, but didn’t record a natural hat trick. 

Instead, Acciari did it four nights later, on Dec. 20, 2019, against the Dallas Stars. In the second period, he had two goals, both set up by Vincent Trocheck and Jonathan Huberdeau, before a shorthanded penalty shot completed his natural hat trick. 

Brady Tkachuk enters a class of his own

As mentioned, Tkachuk became the first Panthers player to record natural hat tricks in consecutive games. The announcers also noted that he became the first NHL player to record hat tricks in consecutive games since Auston Matthews did so in February 2024. 

Heading into Tuesday's game, Tkachuk was off to the slowest start of his career. Two games and six goals later, he's become Florida's hottest scorer, collecting seven points while making franchise history along the way.

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