Verhaeghe and Bennett hat tricks bury the Kraken 8-3

Panthers 8, Kraken 3. Two hat tricks in one night, and one of them belonged to the forward who needed it most. This was Florida's most complete performance of the season, and Seattle was finished before the second intermission.

How it went

Sam Bennett scored 65 seconds into the game, finishing a Matthew Tkachuk feed. Shane Wright equalized at 4:54, and for roughly thirteen minutes it was a competitive hockey game.

Then Carter Verhaeghe took over. He converted a Sam Reinhart setup at 17:56, then scored again on the power play 71 seconds later, and Florida carried a 3-1 lead into the intermission.

The second period is where everything unraveled for Seattle. Verhaeghe completed his hat trick at 6:02, and Niko Mikkola scored unassisted 40 seconds later. Bennett made it 6-1 at 13:13 before Frederick Gaudreau got one back late in the period.

Reinhart added a power-play goal at 2:25 of the third. Ryker Evans answered for Seattle, and Bennett completed his own hat trick at 11:14. Florida outshot Seattle 37-23, and Joey Daccord stopped 29 of 37.

Three things from Sunrise:

1. Bennett broke out all at once. He arrived with no goals through eight games and a four-game pointless streak, by our count, and he left with three. He did it in 12:25 of ice time, more than seven minutes below his Thursday workload, per NHL data.

A blowout spreads the minutes around. I'll happily take that trade when a guy produces this much with less.

2. Verhaeghe's was the cleaner hat trick. Three consecutive Florida goals on five shots, one of them on the power play, all inside 8:06 of game time. When he's shooting with that kind of confidence, the whole lineup gets dangerous.

3. The Tkachuks keep feeding. Bennett centered both brothers, and that line put up eight points. Matthew had three assists and extended his point streak to eight games, by our count. Brady didn't score after back-to-back hat tricks, but he contributed two assists and seven shots.

That's four Panthers hat tricks across the last three games, by our count, and Florida is the first team in NHL history with a natural hat trick in three straight games.

Ferda play of the night:

Seattle opened the third period on the power play, after Brady Tkachuk's roughing minor at the end of the second. Fifty-eight seconds in, Garnet Hathaway drew an interference penalty on Kaapo Kakko. That evened things at four-on-four, then turned into a Florida power play, and Reinhart scored on it at 2:25.

No points for Hathaway, four hits, and the play that made it 7-2.

What they said

Maurice liked where the attack is heading. "The speed of our offensive game is coming together," he said.

Matthew left late after colliding with Bennett. "That was precautionary. I don't expect there to be any holdover on that," Maurice said, and Tkachuk will likely practice Monday. Precautionary is the word you want on a guy riding an eight-game point streak.

Bennett on the night his goals finally came: "It's awesome getting that support from the fans and all my teammates coming up to me."

Pabs' read

The goals will get the highlights, but the quiet details won it too. Jacob Markström returned after missing two games and stopped 20 of 23. The penalty kill went four-for-four. Seth Jones logged 22:15 and blocked three shots.

I've watched this franchise survive seasons when eight goals felt like a productive week. This version has the stars setting tables and everybody else finishing. At 5-2-2 with three consecutive victories, they're heading into a road trip that will tell us considerably more.

Next game

Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Ottawa, 7:30 PM ET on Scripps, then Thursday at Pittsburgh. Back-to-back road nights. Dale.