The hats keep flying for the Florida Panthers at a record pace.
The Panthers made history when forward Carter Verhaeghe scored a natural hat trick on Saturday, Oct. 17, before the game was halfway done.
They became the first NHL team to record natural hat tricks in three consecutive games. A natural hat trick is three consecutive goals by a player, uninterrupted by a teammate or an opponent.
Brady Tkachuk had the first two natural hat tricks - against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 13 and the Vancouver Canucks on Oct 15.
No NHL player had ever scored three consecutive hat tricks and Tkachuk had a couple early chances, but Saturday's game was the Verhaeghe show.
After Florida's Sam Bennett and Seattle's Shane Wright exchanged goals, Verhaeghe took
over. He scored at 17:56 and 19:07 of the first period, then completed the natural hat trick at 6:02 of the second period.
Carter Verhaeghe has a hat trick midway through the second period 🙀 pic.twitter.com/dPH4Vgp1MA
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 17, 2026
Bennett has two goals through two periods as the Panthers, up 6-2, are threatening to add a second hat trick.
Tkachuk chipped in an assist on Verhaeghe's and Bennett's second goals to give him 10 points in his last four games.
Tkachuk had been off to a slow start after the former Ottawa Senators captain was traded to the Panthers in the offseason. He had no points in his first five games and picked up an assist in his sixth game.
The surge occurred after he joined a line with brother Matthew and Sam Bennett as the Panthers made changes to cope with injuries to captain Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand.
What is a natural hat trick?
A natural hat trick is three consecutive goals by a player, uninterrupted by a teammate or an opponent.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida Panthers set NHL record with surge of natural hat tricks
