Matthew Tkachuk scored his first hat trick for the Florida Panthers and had an assist in a 5-3 win against the Arizona Coyotes at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Tuesday.
“He’s going to put up enough points this year to be a truly elite player,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “He’s still a young man that’s coming into it, and there’s a whole bunch of his game that he’s going to get better and better at. This guy’s a rock star.”
Eric Staal scored two goals and Spencer Knight made 33 saves and had an assist for the Panthers (17-18-4), who had lost five of six.
Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist, and Karel Vejmelka made 32 saves for the Coyotes (13-18-5), who lost their 10th in a row on the road (0-8-2).
“We didn’t defend well,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “They put a lot of pucks on net. They’re a volume team with rebounds, and we knew that. For us, it’s a matter to be prepared and play well against certain teams, and that’s on me to do a better job. “
Video: ARI@FLA: Staal scores from the slot
Staal’s second goal gave Florida a 4-3 lead at 16:01 of the second period. It was his first multigoal game since Dec. 12, 2019, for the Minnesota Wild against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Tkachuk’s power-play goal at 19:29 made it 5-3 when he drove to the net to put in his own rebound and complete his third regular-season NHL hat trick. He also had one in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, all with the Calgary Flames. Knight got the secondary assist.
Tkachuk has six goals in his past four games, giving him 20 this season.
“That’s always big having a multiple-goal lead going into the third, especially at home,” Tkachuk said. “We were able to lock it down and play a good third.”
Video: ARI@FLA: Staal puts home a goal to extend lead
The Panthers scored on their opening shift to take a 1-0 lead at 1:09 of the first period. Gustav Forsling‘s shot from the left point rebounded to Alexander Barkovwho fed an undefended Tkachuk below the right face-off circle.
“I try to always be at the net, doing that consistently in every game, that’s where the goals are scored,” Tkachuk said. “You’ve got to be there.”
Staal made it 2-0 at 11:21 with a bad angle shot off the rebound Marc Staal‘s shot from the high slot. Staal has three goals and an assist in his past two games.
“To do what he’s doing is pretty impressive,” Marc Staal said of his brother, who did not play in the NHL last season. “He’s always had a knack for the net. Early on, he had some chances that weren’t going in for him, but now he’s finding a way to bury it.”
Video: ARI@FLA: Tkachuk gets 4th career hat trick
Jakob Chychrun‘s power-play goal at 19:57 cut it to 2-1. Keller’s pass along the goal line hit Chychrun at the top of the crease.
Keller tied it 2-2 at 5:17, cutting across the ice for a backhand from the right circle.
“But that’s a hungry team, we knew that coming into it and I don’t think their record reflects how good they actually are,” Coyotes forward. Nick Bjugstad said. “I didn’t think we had enough juice. … That’s a good team that’s hungry, and they were just hungrier than us.”
Tkachuk’s second goal gave Florida a 3-2 lead at 10:37 before Bjugstad redirected. JJ Moser‘s shot from the left point for a 3-3 tie at 13:59, his third goal in three games.
“When they tied the game, we got better in our second period,” Maurice said. “We didn’t bend at that point. … They just beat [the] Colorado [Avalanche]they beat [the Los Angeles Kings]they put up six [goals] on [the] Toronto [Maple Leafs]. It was a good National Hockey League win.”
NOTES: Eric Staal (38 years, 66 days) is the oldest Panthers player with a multigoal game since Jaromir Jagr (44 years, 24 days) on March 10, 2016. … Tkachuk’s priot regular-season hat trick was with the Calgary Flames on April 12, 2022. … Tkachuk (25) and his father, Keith Tkachuk (75), have 100 combined multigoal games. The only father-son duos with more are Bobby and Brett Hull (279), Gordie and Mark Howe (167) and Peter and Paul Stastny (112). … Nick Schmaltz, a forward, returned for Arizona after missing one game because of an upper-body injury. He had an assist in 19:23.
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