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Tkachuk scores hat trick against hometown Blues
Matthew Tkachuk had to show out on homecoming.
The son of former St. Louis Blues player Keith Tkachuk scored three goals for the hat trick in the third period of the Florida Panthers’ 5-1 win over the Blues on Tuesday, Jan. 9, in St. Louis.
“It’s probably my favorite road game of the year other than playing against my brother,” Tkachuk said during his postgame television interview. “It’s really special coming back.”
Tkachuk has played 17 games against the Blues since making his NHL debut in 2016 for the Calgary Flames and scored seven goals and assisted in 15. He now has five hat tricks under his belt but to score one in a single period is as rare as it gets.
“Lots of family in town, this is a special place for him,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “We needed something and he brought it.”
Tkachuk practically grew up in the Enterprise Center when his father was a cornerstone player for the Blues from 2001-10. This rink was also home to the beginning of his hockey journey.
“A lot has changed since I’ve been younger,” Tkachuk said. “I scored a lot of goals out on that ice when I younger and I was very happy to get a few more (Tuesday).”
Tkachuk’s hat trick came after the Panthers built a 2-1 lead over the first two periods. Kevin Stenlund tied the game with a goal before the end of the first period and the Panthers struck first in the second period with a goal by Sam Reinhart, his 29th of the season.
The Panthers have won eight straight games including the previous four on the road at Arizona, Vegas and Colorado. And yet the win against St. Louis was the toughest and most gratifying of the four.
“This was the one that we were the most worried about,” Maurice said. “I don’t think any of that was easy for us. They’re one of the fastest teams in the league. We have no legs, so we had to make a whole bunch of mental adjustments as the game went on. I’m really happy with this win as much as any win we had on this trip.”
Tkachuk has been playing his best hockey so far in January. He’s scored six of his 11 goals during the road trip and collected a total of 12 points.
“He’s been really good lately, scoring points,” Aleksander Barkov said. “He’s doing so many things for this team and for this locker room. I’m just really happy to see him score goals.
End of a dry spell
Saturday’s shootout win at Carolina was St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn’s first experience of the joys of scoring a goal since Nov. 30.
However, that dry spell was officially over on Tuesday after Schenn scored the first goal of the game for the Blues four minutes into the game. He went 16 games in a row without a goal prior.
Schenn has scored nine goals this season but half of them came over two games. He scored three during an 8-2 win at Colorado on Nov. 11 and twice against Buffalo on Nov. 30.
Wild Card race
With the Blues’ loss and the Oilers’ win over the Blackhawks on Tuesday, St. Louis (20-18-1, 41 points) now trails Edmonton (21-15-1, 43 points) for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Seattle Kraken (17-14-9, 43 points) defeated Buffalo 5-2 on Tuesday to move up to tying the Oilers for that spot.