Verhaeghe’s was a natural hat trick, making the Panthers the first team in NHL history to have players record one in three straight games. Brady Tkachuk had a natural hat trick in each of Florida’s previous two games.
Before Saturday, the Panthers never had two players with a hat trick in the same game.
Niko Mikkola and Sam Reinhart each had a goal and an assist, Matthew Tkachuk had three assists, and Brady Tkachuk had two assists for the Panthers (5-2-2). Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves.
Shane Wright, Frederick Gaudreau and Ryker Evans scored for the Kraken (5-3-1), who were 3-0-1 in their previous four games. Berkly Catton and Kaapo Kakko each had two assists, and Joey Daccord made 29 saves.
Bennett gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 1:05 of the first period when he batted down a Matthew Tkachuk rebound and swept a loose puck past Daccord.
Wright tied it 1-1 at 4:54 when he knocked in a centering feed from Catton.
Verhaeghe closed the period with a pair of goals -- the first at 17:56 and the second at 19:07 on the power play -- to give Florida a 3-1 lead going into the second.
The Panthers made it 4-1 at 6:02 of the second when Verhaeghe scored his third straight goal. He finished at the left post after Mikkola’s wraparound attempt.
Mikkola did score 40 seconds later when his wrist shot from above the left face-off circle extended it to 5-1 at 6:42.
Bennett made it 6-1 at 13:13, scoring off a cross-ice feed from Brady Tkachuk, before Gaudreau pulled the Kraken to within 6-2 at 19:05 by driving in and putting a low shot past Markstrom.
Reinhart pushed the lead to 7-2 on the power play at 2:25 of the third period. Matthew Tkachuk sent a no-look cross-ice pass to Reinhart, who scored with a one-timer from the top of the slot.
Evans’ shot from the point then cut it to 7-3 at 3:49.
Bennett completed his hat trick at 11:14. He one-timed a feed from Uvis Balinskis in the left circle to for the 8-3 final.
