Radim Vrbata Hat Trick Wipes Out Ducks

     Radim Vrbata scored a hat trick as the Florida Panthers pounded the Anaheim Ducks 8-3 at BB&T Center on Thursday night. The Panthers, who began a five-game home stand, won for the second time in the last three games.
     It took just 64 seconds for Florida(4-5-0) to get on the scoreboard. Vincent Trocheck and Connor Brickley made initial shots from close range on John Gibson which he saved. Radim Vebata scored from the low slot for his first goal as a Florida Panther.
     Owen Tippett collected his first NHL goal at the 4:23 mark. He brought the puck into the Ducks zone on a 2-on-1 break and passed it to Jamie McGinn on the left wing. He centered it from the low left circle and Tippett tapped it in from the right of the crease.
     Anaheim(4-4-1) answered back just two minutes later at 6:24. Chris Wagner steered the puck from the left corner to Logan Shaw. He went around the Panthers cage, backhanded a pass to the low slot and Kalle Kossilia scored his first NHL goal in his third career game.
     The Cats would convert on their first power play of the contest with 2:36 left in the first. Korbinian Holzer gave away the puck on the end wall. Nick Bjugstad found Vrbata in the low slot and he put in his second goal of the game.
     In the second period, Florida continued their momentum and made it a three-goal cushion 4-1 at 4:03. Trocheck won the face-off draw in the left circle and passed it back to the blue line. Alex Petrovic sent a slap shot through traffic toward the Anaheim net and Trocheck redirected it in from the left side of the crease for his fourth goal of the season.
     The following goal by the Panthers at the 8:27 mark was something. Barkov had the puck in the low right circle and connected a no-look backhand pass to the slot area and Evgenii Dadonov blasted a shot for his third goal of the year.
     The Ducks surrendered a shorthanded goal during their third power play with 4:23 remaining in the second and were down 6-1. Derek MacKenzie came out of the Panthers zone with the puck down the right side. He entered the Anaheim zone with a 2-on-1 breakaway, flipped a backhand pass to the slot and Barkov scored on a one-timer.
     Former Panthers goalie Reto Berra replaced Giboson for Anaheim to begin the third period.  They got a tally on a delayed penalty at the 2:18 mark. Jakob Silverberg fired a wrist shot from the left circle which was stopped by James Reimer. Andrew Cogliano smacked the puck in mid-air from the low slot into the Panthers cage to make it 6-2.
     Vrbata got his third goal of the contest for the hat trick with 11:21 left in the third. Keith Yandle took a slap shot from the left point which was tipped by Trocheck on the left of the crease. Vrbata was on the edge of the blue paint and scored.