The State of Hockey: three natural hat tricks, a fifth banner, and the power play paid up
The Panthers made NHL history three games running, the Everblades raised a Kelly Cup banner and swept Orlando, and FGCU came back from 2-0 down to sweep Montana State.
Florida hockey spent the week scoring in threes. The Panthers put a natural hat trick on the board three games running, which no NHL team had ever done, and the Everblades raised a fifth Kelly Cup banner and then swept Orlando.
My verdict: the state's best week of the young season, and the power play I said owed the room one last Monday paid in full.
The cats
Florida went 3-1-0 and scored 21 goals doing it. The week opened badly, a 5-3 loss in Buffalo where Reinhart's two power-play goals weren't enough. Then the back half of the back-to-back turned into a 7-3 rout in Columbus, Brady Tkachuk with a natural hat trick and his brother with five assists.
Thursday, Brady did it again, three straight late to beat Vancouver in overtime. Saturday, Verhaeghe went natural and Bennett added three of his own in an 8-3 win over Seattle. Three games, three natural hat tricks, a first in league history.
The game that mattered was Vancouver. Buffalo and Seattle were rolled; Columbus was a tired team on the second night. Vancouver was a 2-0 hole on home ice with under nine minutes left, and the cats outshot them 39-18 and refused to lose, with the tying goal coming with 12.8 seconds left.
That's the game you show a kid who asks what this team's identity is.
Who's rolling: Matthew Tkachuk's point streak is at eight games, 14 points in nine, per NHL data, and he's doing it in 19.5 minutes a night. Seth Jones has 10 points and 25.5 minutes a night, and he's running the whole back end. Verhaeghe has five goals in three games.
The number that tells the real story is the power play. It was 1-for-28 to start the season. This week it went 8-for-15 by our count, including 4-for-6 in Columbus. The puck started moving before the kill could set, and that's all a unit with these shooters needs.
Who owes the room a better week: the penalty kill. It sits at 80.6 percent on the season, per NHL data, and Buffalo's two power-play goals were the difference in the one loss.
Markstrom and Gudas are targeting Wednesday in Ottawa, and Schwindt came up Monday with Lafferty going back to Charlotte. The road trip starts in Ottawa on Wednesday at 7:30 and runs through Pittsburgh on Thursday. The Tkachuk homecoming will be loud.
Across the bay
Tampa went 2-1-0 and I'm not going to pretend it wasn't a good week. The Lightning got handled 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, then came home and fixed it: Hedman's overtime winner against Seattle after Hagel scored twice, then a 2-0 hole turned into a 4-2 win over Vancouver on Kucherov's first two-goal game of the season.
They're 6-2-0 and a perfect 5-0-0 at home, per NHL data, and Hagel leads them with 11 points. The one soft spot is a power play at 10.7 percent, per NHL data, which Cooper waved off as missed chances. He's probably right.
Kucherov sits three points from Stamkos's franchise record, and that's a nice night waiting to happen in somebody else's building: Vegas on Tuesday, then Colorado and Utah.
The Estero line:
The Everblades raised a fifth Kelly Cup banner Saturday night, an ECHL record, in front of a sellout of 7,311 at Hertz Arena, and then beat Orlando 3-1. Broten Sabo scored his first pro goal, Needham added one, Ben Brar scored shorthanded and Cam Johnson stopped 17 of 18.
Sunday in Orlando they won 5-1 and outshot the Solar Bears 44-18.
Mark Estapa drove the weekend: two goals and an assist Sunday, and his first was on the power play. Tyler Duke and Tyson Dyck both scored their first pro goals in the same game, which is the kind of night that tells you about a room.
Johnson made 17 saves again. He's the reason the goals-against column reads two after two games.
The lineup got a piece before the opener: defenseman Troy Murray came in from Allen on Wednesday. They're 2-0-0 by our count, and Atlanta comes to Hertz Arena Friday at 7:30 and Saturday at 7.
The rest of the ECHL in Florida
Orlando is 0-2 and both losses are to the Blades, so the Solar Bears have seen enough of Southwest Florida for a while. They get South Carolina at home Saturday. Jacksonville lost 5-1 to the Stingrays at home on Friday, then dropped a shootout in Savannah, 4-3. The Icemen are at Greenville Friday and back in Savannah Saturday.
Campus to Sunrise:
Florida Gulf Coast's D2 team swept Montana State at Hertz Arena, 4-2 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. Saturday was the one: down 2-0 after two, Shayne Tomlinson got them going and Nathan Tobey scored twice in the third, the winner on the power play. Kai Girard stopped 21 of 23. That's a comeback nobody on that bench will forget.
South Florida's D3 team went to Estero and swept FGCU's D3 side, 6-1 Friday and 6-3 Saturday. Grant Dietz scored twice in the opener and Ryan Koch stopped 20 of 21. Twelve goals in two nights on the road is a statement from Tampa Bay.
Tampa's D2 team had a rough trip to Middle Tennessee, losing 4-1 and 6-5. The UCF-FAU series at Boca Ice, Florida's two games with Alabama in Jacksonville and the Lynn and Miami D3 games hadn't posted scores by Monday morning; I'll catch them up when the feed does.
The one game to see next: Tampa at Florida Gulf Coast, Friday and Saturday at Hertz Arena. Two Florida D2 programs, one of them on a sweep, in the Everblades' barn on a weekend the Blades are home too. That's a lot of hockey in one building.
State rankings:
My ranking, by the week each team had. Argue with it.
- Panthers (3-1-0): three natural hat tricks in three games, 21 goals, a league first.
- Everblades (2-0-0): a banner, a sellout and a sweep of the in-state rival.
- Lightning (2-1-0): lost in New York, then two home wins and a comeback.
- FGCU men's D2 (2-0): swept Montana State with a third-period comeback.
- USF men's D3 (2-0): 12 goals in a road sweep of FGCU.
- Tampa men's D2 (0-2): two losses at Middle Tennessee, one by a goal.
- Jacksonville Icemen (0-1-1): a shootout point in Savannah, not much else.
- FGCU men's D3 (0-2): outscored 12-4 at home.
- Orlando Solar Bears (0-2): both to the Blades, outshot 76-36.
The state of the state
Florida hockey is in a good place: two NHL teams with 12 points apiece, an ECHL champion that looks like one, and the college clubs filling the Everblades' barn on the weekends. Dale.
Next week in Florida: Panthers at Ottawa Wednesday 7:30 and at Pittsburgh Thursday 7. Lightning at Vegas Tuesday, at Colorado Friday, at Utah Saturday.
Everblades vs. Atlanta Friday 7:30 and Saturday 7 at Hertz Arena. Icemen at Greenville Friday and at Savannah Saturday; Solar Bears host South Carolina Saturday. Tampa at FGCU in D2 Friday and Saturday at Hertz Arena; Lynn D3 at Northwestern Friday and Saturday.
