Cat and a Hat: Brady Tkachuk Brings It Again, Fuels Panthers to OT Win

Brady Tkachuk scored a natural hat trick to lead the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 overtime victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night in Sunrise. Trailing 2-0 late in the third period, Florida mounted a comeback as Tkachuk beat goaltender Levi Merilainen before tying the game with just 12.8 seconds remaining. In overtime, Tkachuk scored his third goal of the night to seal the win.

The performance marked Tkachuk's second consecutive hat trick following his three-goal game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The effort makes him only the third player in Panthers franchise history to record hat tricks in back-to-back games, joining Pavel Bure and Noel Acciari. After going pointless in his first five games, Tkachuk now leads Florida with six goals in eight games.