Tkachuk Brothers Make NHL History as Panthers Rout Columbus 7-3

The Florida Panthers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-3 on Tuesday night. The score was not the story. Two brothers were.

Brady Tkachuk scored three straight goals in a span of 8 minutes 3 seconds in the second period, a natural hat trick. His brother Matthew assisted on every one of them. According to the NHL, no player had ever assisted on all three goals of his brother's natural hat trick.

Brady finished with three goals and an assist. Matthew finished with five assists. Both totals tied a career high for each brother, according to Reuters.

Eight minutes that broke the game open

Columbus struck first. Kent Johnson broke away after a Florida turnover and scored at 14:11 of the first period. The Blue Jackets led 1-0 at the break.

The lead died early in the second. Matthew Tkachuk slid a pass through the slot at 2:27 and Brady scored his first goal as a Panther. Less than four minutes later, on a power play, Matthew found him again from the circle. At 10:30 of the period, Brady finished the hat trick on another power play, turning in a bounce off the end boards from a Sam Reinhart shot.

Matthew was not done. He set up Carter Verhaeghe late in the second period for his fourth assist of the period, a first in Panthers history, according to the Associated Press. His fifth assist tied the club record for assists in one game.

Seth Jones added four assists for Florida. Verhaeghe and Reinhart each scored twice, and Reinhart added an assist. Florida went 4 for 6 on the power play. Akira Schmid made 24 saves, with starter Jacob Markstrom day to day with tightness.

Columbus points the finger at itself

Johnson, Denton Mateychuk and Cole Sillinger scored for Columbus. Cam Talbot stopped 17 of 23 shots before Jet Greaves took over early in the third period. The Blue Jackets have allowed seven power-play goals in 18 times shorthanded this season.

"It's self-inflicted," Columbus coach Rick Bowness said, according to the Columbus Dispatch. "We beat ourselves in St. Louis. We beat ourselves tonight."

Columbus forward Mathieu Olivier also picked up a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct in the second period for a slash on Florida's Uvis Balinskis.

Around the league on Tuesday

**Rangers 4, Lightning 1.** Alexis Lafreniere scored twice in the first 12:47, his sixth and seventh goals of the season, and ran his goal streak to four games. New York improved to 5-0-0 at home, its best start at Madison Square Garden since the 1990-91 season. Dylan Garand made 25 saves with Igor Shesterkin out for the season with a lower-body injury.

**Blues 7, Senators 2.** Pius Suter and Mason McTavish each scored two goals with an assist for St. Louis. Jake Neighbours also scored twice, and defenseman Adam Jiricek scored his first career goal. Ottawa's Claude Giroux scored and tied Bobby Hull for 59th on the league's all-time points list with 1,170.

**Hurricanes 4, Capitals 2.** Andrei Svechnikov scored two goals and added an assist as Carolina won its sixth straight game. The night was also Alex Ovechkin's final regular-season visit to Raleigh. He announced last week that this season will be his last.

**Devils 5, Red Wings 4, OT.** Jack Hughes scored in overtime for New Jersey. Alex DeBrincat had three points for Detroit in the loss.

**Also final:** Islanders 3, Canucks 2. Canadiens 4, Sabres 3. Blackhawks 5, Penguins 3. Kraken 3, Flyers 2.