NOTEBOOK: Clicking on special teams; Reinhardt & Schwindt recalled

FORT LAUDERDALE – Plenty of reasons to feel good in South Florida. 

Following their 8-3 win over the Seattle Kraken at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday, the Florida Panthers stretched their winning streak to three games and improved to 5-2-2. 

Sending fans to Pantherland, both Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett recorded hat tricks. 

On an historic night, the two hat tricks marked the first time in franchise history the Panthers had posted multiple hat tricks in a single game. 

Florida also became the first team in NHL history to record a natural hat trick in three straight games, after Verhaeghe followed Brady Tkachuk’s previous two. 

“When we set the pace, other teams have a tough time keeping up with our size, skill and physicality,” Brady said following the team’s practice at Baptist Health IcePlex on Monday. “It’s just a combination of that. If we can keep continuing to get better, which I feel every game we are, the sky’s the limit for our group.” 

Looking to keep up their winning ways as they hit the road, the Panthers will begin a four-game trip starting at the Canadian Tire Centre against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET. 

The Panthers will also make stops against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks before closing the book on their trip Tuesday versus the Winnipeg Jets. 

“It was big to play in front of our home fans, and they brought the energy,” Brady said ahead of the road trip. “Now it's onto another road trip, so be able to play that style and emulate that on the road as best we can.”

SPECIAL TEAMS CLICKING 

Whether they’ve been a man up or a man down, the special teams for the Panthers has been coming through as of late. 

After posting a 3.6% success rate on the man advantage through their first five games, the Panthers have got the power play going in the last four games, owning a 53.3% (8/15) rate in that span. 

The league’s best power play within the last week, Florida is now at 20.9% on the season. 

"Felt pretty good to get a couple and get on the board, especially on the power play there,” Verhaeghe said after Saturday’s win. 

As important as it is to put the puck in the net, it’s just as important to keep it out, and the Panthers have been doing that on the penalty kill. 

Over their last four games, the penalty kill has prevented any damage on 12/14 attempts, good for 85.7%. 

In that span, the Panthers rank eighth in the league on the PK. 

SCHWINDT & REINHARDT RECALLED 

Some familiar faces are back up with the Panthers and could be seeing ice time soon. 

On Saturday, the Panthers recalled forward Cole Reinhardt from the Charlotte Checkers (AHL). 

Claimed off waivers by Florida from the Vegas Golden Knights last March, Reinhardt notched eight points (6G, 2A) in 15 games last season. 

Ending the season on a high note, Reinhardt completed the season with points in his last five games and goals in each of the final four. 

In five games with Charlotte this year, Reinhardt has two assists. 

“It's just a matter of time,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Reinhardt. “Played very well for us last year and had a great camp.” 

Also getting the call from Charlotte, forward Cole Schwindt was brought up on Monday. 

“Cole has had such an interesting career,” Maurice said of Schwindt. “Unfortunately, he's missed a lot of hockey due to injury. He had a good camp, but the idea was if we could get him down, that he could play big minutes on a consistent basis, just even 10 games. Get up to speed before you come back up here and show what you can do. We do have a familiarity, which is a positive.” 

Playing in 29 games with the Panthers last season, Schwidnt had seven points (5G, 2A). 

In five games with the Checkers this season, the 25-year-old has three points (1G, 2A). 

“I'm excited to get back here,” said Schwindt. “It's nice kind of having a relationship with all the guys from last year. Makes the transition coming back that much easier.” 

PRACTICE LINES 

Forwards 

Brady Tkachuk – Sam Bennett - Matthew Tkachuk 

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Reinhart – Lars Eller 

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sandis Vilmanis 

Boko Imama/Cole Reinhardt – Cole Schwindt – Garnet Hathaway 

Defensemen 

Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad  

Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones  

Dmitry Kulikov – Radko Gudas  

Uvis Balinskis  

Goaltenders 

Jacob Markstrom  

Akira Schmid