5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers 5, Coyotes 3

SUNRISE, Fla. --Matthew Tkachuk sent hats and rats flying to the ice after netting a hat trick to lead the Florida Panthers to a 5-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday.
With the win -- which came in front of 19,484 rowdy fans -- Florida improved to 17-18-4.
"He's still a young man," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of Tkachuk, who only just turned 25 and is in the first year of an eight-year contract. "He's still just coming into it. There's a whole bunch of the game he's going to get better and better at. This guy's a rock star."
For a quick recap of the game, click
HERE
.
To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. HATS ON THE ICE

Tkachuk had fans chucking their hats on the ice.
Netting the third regular-season hat trick of his career, the superstar winger led the charge on offense with three goals -- all of them coming in big moments -- and one assist against Arizona.
"He makes a ton of great little plays all game long," Panthers defenseman Marc Staal said of Tkachuk, who leads the team with 20 goals. "A big night for us when we needed it. It kind of looked like a whole home game for him out there. He had three goals, and it was big for us."

On all three goals, Tkachuk credited his teammates for setting him up with excellent passes.
"All easy goals for me to be able to score," said Tkachuk, who recorded his sixth game with at least three points this campaign. "Great passes by Barky, Muzzy and then Reino at the end."
Already leading the Panthers in scoring with 47 points (20 goals, 27 assists), Tkachuk, who fired off a team-high six shots on goal against the Coyotes, believes he's still got more room to grow.
For the rest of the NHL, that's a scary thought.
"I'm shooting the puck more, which is a big thing for myself personally," Tkachuk said. "Being around the net, obviously that's something that I pride myself on. I have a whole lot more to give and another level to get to. Hopefully I can pick it up here in the second half."

2. STAAL STAYS HOT

After spending last season outside of the NHL, Eric Staal has gotten back up to speed in a hurry.
Lighting the lamp twice against the Coyotes, the veteran center recorded his first multi-goal game since Dec. 14, 2019, back when he was with the Minnesota Wild. At 38, he also became the oldest Panther to score multiple goals in a game since Jaromir Jagr did it at 44 in 2016.

"He took a year off," Marc Staal said of his brother's comeback. "For him to be doing what he's doing now is pretty impressive. He's always had a knack for the net. He had some chances earlier that weren't going for him, and now he's finding ways to bury it. It's great to see."
One of the most-consistent players for the Panthers over the past month, Staal has registered 12 points (six goals, six assists) over his last 16 games. In that 16-game stretch, he's made a dent on the scoresheet in 10 games, including two instances of scoring in back-to-back outings.
Against the Coyotes, he also won 60% of his faceoffs.
"He's got a knack for the net," Tkachuk said of Staal, whose 447 career goals are the fourth-most among active NHL players. "He's done it his whole career. He's a big offensive guy. He does a lot of great things for us. He's on the PK and he takes a lot of important draws. He's just that veteran presence that our team needs, and he's been unbelievable at it. He was one of my favorite players to watch when I was younger, so getting a chance to play with him is awesome."

3. KNIGHT'S POINT

Spencer Knight shut the door for the Panthers.
Helping keep the Coyotes at bay during the third period, he turned aside all 14 shots he faced over the final 20 minutes to lock in the 5-3 win. Finishing with 10 high-danger saves, several of those stops came during Arizona's final flurry on offense in the waning minutes of regulation.
"I think coach came out with a message to just work as hard as we can right from the puck drop and go for three periods," said Knight, who finished with 33 saves on 36 shots. "If there's a lot of adversity in the game, you just keep working hard. I think that's what we did. The guys played really well in front of me, and we came up big in the right moments. It was a good game."
Earning a fun milestone in the win as well, Knight also recorded the first point of his NHL career when he was credited with the secondary assist on Tkachuk's hat-trick goal in the third period.

"I've been trying to get a goal for a bit, but I'll take an assist," Knight smiled.
In 18 appearances this season, Knight has gone 9-6-3 with a .908 save percentage.

4. SMITH SETTLES IN

Called up from the AHL earlier in the morning, Givani Smith shined against Arizona.
Playing with Staal and Ryan Lomberg, Smith, who was acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings last month, produced two hits and one shot on goal over 9:29 of ice time. In that span, Florida led 18-7 in shot attempts when he was on the ice at 5-on-5, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
On Staal's first goal of the game -- a beautiful snipe from a sharp angle -- Smith earned somewhat of an honorary assist on the play with a perfect screen to blind Karel Vejmelka.

"I like what the two of those guys had going on," Maurice said of Smith and Staal's chemistry. "Eric's a really smart player. He can read people that are predictable, and I thought Smtih had a very predictable, very hard game. I like the two of them. They're big men that go to the net."
In two games with Florida, Smith has recorded six hits and a +1 rating.

5. THE STARTING POINT

With seven of their next eight games coming on the road, the Panthers are hoping that their win over the Coyotes will serve as a good starting point for their second-half climb up the standings.
At 17-18-4, Florida sits eight points out of a playoff spot with 43 games left in 2022-23.
"We need these two points every game," Tkachuk said.
Set to embark on a four-game road trip, the Panthers will visit the Red Wings on Friday before closing out the week with a matchup in Dallas on Sunday. Next week, they'll visit Colorado on Jan. 10 and Las Vegas on Jan. 12 before heading home to host the Canucks on Jan. 14.
"They're all important now the rest of the way," Marc Staal said. "We took care of a team we should take care of, and now we get on the road and will try and string some wins together."
That game on Jan. 14 will also mark the team's Vamos Gatos Night. To purchase tickets, click
HERE
.