Verhaeghe, Bennett each get hat tricks, Panthers roll past Kraken 8-3

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe had a history-making natural hat trick, Sam Bennett scored his first three goals of the season and the Florida Panthers rolled past the Seattle Kraken 8-3 on Saturday night. The Panthers became the first team in NHL history with natural hat tricks in three consecutive games, after Brady Tkachuk had them in wins over Columbus on Tuesday and Vancouver on Thursday. Florida also became only the third team in 30 years to have a hat trick — of any variety — in three consecutive games. With four hat tricks already this season — all coming in the last three games — Florida has matched its total from the last three regular seasons combined. Niko Mikkola and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers, and Matthew Tkachuk had three assists. Freddy Gaudreau, Shane Wright and Ryker Evans had goals for Seattle, while Kaapo Kakko and Berkly Catton both had two-assist games. Verhaeghe got his first two goals of the night 1:11 apart late in the first per