Matthew Tkachuk scores hat trick to help Panthers beat Blues for eighth straight win

By DAVID SOLOMON

ST. LOUIS — Matthew Tkachuk scored his fifth career hat trick to help the Florida Panthers beat the St. Louis Blues 5-1 on Tuesday night for their eighth straight victory.

Sam Reinhart and Kevin Stenlund also scored for the Panthers, who have 36 goals during their winning streak. Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves.

Brayden Schenn scored and Joel Hofer made 26 saves for St. Louis, which had won two in a row.

Tkachuk scored into an empty net for his 11th goal of the season with 57 seconds left to complete his hat trick.

Tkachuk scored on one knee to give Florida a 3-1 lead 2:18 into the third period and got his second goal of the game 3:39 later to make it 4-1. He has six goals in the Panthers’ last four games after scoring only five in the first 36 games of the season.

Reinhart scored his team-leading 29th on a power play 1:11 into the second period to give Florida a 2-1 advantage.

Stenlund tied it 1-all when he scored his eighth goal on a feed from Jonah Gadjovich with 4:04 remaining in the first period.

Schenn got his ninth goal when he lifted Jake Neighbours’ rebound over Stolarz 3:24 into the first. Schenn hadn’t scored in 16 games since netting a pair of goals against Buffalo on Nov. 30.

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Panthers: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night to open a five-game homestand.