Panthers’ Brady Tkachuk becomes first player with consecutive natural hat tricks since 1986

It was fun while it lasted, Florida Panthers haters.

The Panthers made the biggest swing of this past offseason, acquiring winger Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators to join forces with his brother Matthew. The move came with plenty of hype, but six games into this season, it hadn’t come with much production, as Brady had registered no goals and just one assist.

Brady’s slow start allowed the many hockey fans that dislike the Panthers to get their jokes off, but that time has now certainly passed. Brady potted three goals, all in the second period, for a natural hat trick during Florida’s 7-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Then, on Thursday, Brady accounted for all three of the Panthers’ goals, including the game winner, in Florida’s 3-2 overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks.

Tkachuk’s curl-and-drag overtime dagger completed his second natural hat trick in as many games, making him the first player to have back-to-back natural hat tricks since forward Petri Skriko accomplished the feat for the Canucks in November of 1986.

Tkachuk’s trio of tallies on Thursday marked the fifth hat trick of his career.

Brady’s move to Florida is no longer looking like a possible disappointment, as he’s rebounded from a quiet first handful of games to now have six goals and two assists for eight points through eight games. Thursday’s win also got the Panthers to 10 points on the season, putting them in a three-way tie for second in the Atlantic Division.

Matthew picked up an assist on Brady’s first goal on Thursday and assisted on all three of Brady’s goals on Tuesday, giving him three goals and eight assists for 11 points in eight games. The Tkachuk brothers’ offensive explosion could not have come at a better time for the Panthers, as top-line center Aleksander Barkov and veteran winger Brad Marchand are out with injuries.