Tkachuk Town: Florida Panthers 5, St. Louis Blues 1

Matthew Tkachuk said the Florida Panthers owed the St. Louis Blues a better game than they offered up back before Christmas.

The Blues would have been OK with another mediocre performance.

At least one from Tkachuk — who had a game to remember in his hometown as he recorded his first hat trick of the season.

And, it was a natural hatty.

Florida rallied from an early deficit Tuesday night, winning their eighth straight game in the process as they won all four on their final western road trip of the regular season with a 5-1 win over the host Blues.

St. Louis is the last team to beat the Panthers in that 4-1 win Tkachuk referenced on Dec. 21.

Tkachuk, playing where his dad Keith will be inducted into the Blues’ Hall of Fame next Friday, played a huge role in Florida’s win.

Not only did he feed Sam Reinhart for the go-ahead goal in the second, but he twice afterward to help the Panthers outpace the Blues.

On the power play goal, which gave Florida a 2-1 lead at 1:11 of the second, Tkachuk had yet another perfectly-timed pass from the cage to a waiting Reinhart in the slot.

Just over two minutes into the third, Tkachuk scored off a vicious one-timer in the right circle off a pass from Carter Verhaeghe.

At 5:57 of the third, Tkachuk got his second by deflecting a Gus Forsling shot.

Tkachuk got No. 3 into an empty net in the final minute of the game.

Florida trailed 1-0 early, but Kevin Stenlund tied the score with 4:04 remaining in the first when he appeared to whiff on a sharp pass from Jonah Gadjovich — but it had enough velocity coming off whatever it hit (his skate or stick) to slip past Joel Hofer.

On the other side of the ice, Anthony Stolarz stopped 29 shots to get his sixth win of the season.

GAME NOTES

Tkachuk has now scored six goals in the past four games — with a season-high four-game goal streak.

• Verhaeghe has a six-game scoring streak.
• Reinhart has scored 11 goals during Florida’s winning streak and has goals in his past four games. He has scored in seven of the eight wins after being held off the scoresheet against Montreal.
• Anton Lundell got the secondary assist on Tkachuk’s second goal, his first point in 10 games.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Blues 1, Panthers 0 (3:24, 1st): Brayden Schenn puts a loose puck past Anthony Stolarz for his first goal in 17 games.
• Panthers 1, Blues 1 (15:56, 1st): Jonah Gadjovich retrieves his own rebound along the halfwall then slices a cross-ice pass to Kevin Stenlund who scores his second in as many games.
• Panthers 2, Blues 1 (1:11, 2nd PP): Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk team up with their famed net pass to the slot — and Reinhart gets No. 29.
• Panthers 3, Blues 1 (2:18, 3rd): Tkachuk keeps his goal streak going as he blisters a pass from Carter Verhaeghe.
• Panthers 4, Blues 1 (5:57, 3rd): Tkachuk gets another as he deflects a Gus Forsling shot through.
• Panthers 5, Blues 1 (19:03, 3rd EN): Welcome back to St. Louis, Mr. Tkachuk.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

1. Matthew Tkachuk (hat trick, assist), Florida

2. Anthony Stolarz (29 saves), Florida

3. Sam Reinhart (GWG), Florida