Brady Tkachuk scored three times for the Florida Panthers against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night in Sunrise, the first of them arriving at 11:11 of the third period to start a comeback from 2-0 down. The shift immediately before that goal is the one being replayed.
Backchecking out of his offensive zone, Tkachuk brought his stick down across the back of Elias Pettersson‘s leg, catching the Vancouver defenseman behind the knee. Moments later he finished a hit on Liam Ohgren well after the puck had gone. Neither drew a whistle.
Sportsnet Central raised it on air after the game (video on the incidents if you scroll down), noting that Tkachuk had escaped a couple of fairly obvious calls on the sequence that produced Florida’s first goal.
Supporters watching had reached that conclusion some time earlier.
“There were a lot of missed calls against Panthers, as there usually are,” one wrote.
“Typical Tkachuk scum move and crap NHL refs,” said another, while a third opted for sarcasm: “Pretends to be shocked.”
Why do fans think the Panthers get away with so much?
The complaints have been stacking up for a fortnight. Earlier this month Tkachuk put Macklin Celebrini down from behind in San Jose and took nothing beyond a fighting major for it. Last week his brother Matthew Tkachuk pulled the helmet clean off Zach Benson in Buffalo without a whistle, and Radko Gudas came together knee to knee with Beck Malenstyn in the same game.
None of it has produced a suspension, and the pattern is now the thing fans point at rather than any individual incident.
READ MORE: Jim Hiller has owned up to the Gavin McKenna benching
Tkachuk’s own night ended rather well. His second goal, a one-timer from the right circle with 13 seconds left and the goaltender pulled, forced overtime, and he finished it 2:23 into the extra period with a move up the middle on Leevi Merilainen.
It was his second consecutive natural hat trick, making him the first player since Auston Matthews in February 2024 to manage hat tricks in back-to-back games. He now has six goals and seven points in two games after arriving in Florida without a single one through his first six.
Read more:
