Takeaways as Matthew Tkachuk’s hat trick helps Panthers beat Blues for perfect road trip
The morning before the Florida Panthers faced the St. Louis Blues to cap a four-game road trip, star winger Matthew Tkachuk had a message to give.
It was this very Blues team that handed the Panthers their most recent loss almost three weeks ago. It was a game in which the Panthers got away from their defense-first style and saw it cost them.
“We owe these guys a better game than what we gave them last time in Florida, “Tkachuk said. “They took it to us pretty good.”
Mission accomplished for the Panthers as a whole and Tkachuk personally.
Tkachuk, who struggled to find the back of the net often during the first half of the season, logged a hat trick in the third period to help the Panthers beat the Blues 5-1 on Tuesday at Enterprise Center to complete a perfect four-game road trip and extend their win streak to a season-high eight games.
The Panthers (26-12-2) also won games against the Arizona Coyotes, Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche on this road trip.
And Tkachuk was integral in all four games.
The Hart Memorial Trophy finalist from a season ago scored six goals and dished out another six assists over the four wins. His three goals on Tuesday — a shot from the right circle 2:18 into the third period, a tip-in of a Gustav Forsling shot from the point three-and-a-half minutes later and an empty-netter with 57 seconds left — marked his first multi-goal performance of the season, let alone three.
Tkachuk is now up to 11 goals and 28 assists through 40 games.
Now, for the Panthers as a whole...
▪ This was the first time the Panthers swept a road trip of at least four games since going 5-0 Feb. 11-20, 2017, on a trip that went through Nashville, San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles and St. Louis.
▪ As for the win streak, the franchise record for consecutive wins is 13, done March 29-April 23, 2022.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Solid spot start for Stolarz
Goaltender Anthony Stolarz, starting on Tuesday in place of Sergei Bobrovsky, gave up a goal on the third shot he faced to put Florida in an early 1-0 hole.
After that? Stolarz was a perfect 27 for 27 as the Panthers scored five unanswered goals to take the lead for good.
Stolarz is now 6-3-1 in 10 starts this season.
All-Star Sam Reinhart’s heater continues
Sam Reinhart, who last week was named an All-Star for the first time in his career, scored the go-ahead goal for the Panthers with a second-period power play goal.
It was the 29th goal of the season for Reinhart and his 14th on the power play.
Before Reinhart’s game-winner, Kevin Stenlund tied the game at 1-1 late in the first period. His eight goals this season are a career high.
Time for some games on home ice
After spending the past 10 days on the road, the Panthers will play six of their next seven games at Amerant Bank Arena.
It starts with a five-game homestand that includes games against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday (7 p.m.), New Jersey Devils on Saturday (6 p.m.), Anaheim Ducks on Monday (1 p.m.), Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 17 (7 p.m.) and Minnesota Wild on Jan. 19 (7 p.m.).
Florida then goes to Nashville to face the Predators on Jan. 22 before coming back to Sunrise to play the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 24.
This story was originally published January 9, 2024 at 10:34 PM.
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