Barkov scores fastest hat trick in Panthers history

Barkov got the fourth hat trick of his career with three goals scored in vastly different ways.

The first, 2:37 into the game, came when Gustav Forsling‘s shot hit Barkov’s skate and went past Sam Montembeault.

Barkov, playing in his first game after missing the past three with a lower-body injury, got his second on a snapshot from the left circle while the third was scored in front of the net off a loose puck.

“He changes every part of your game,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said of having Barkov back.

Florida also got a pair of goals from Matthew Tkachuk with Carter Verhaeghe and Eetu Luostarinen scoring in the third as Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves in the win.

“Barkov coming back from injury, he obviously had a very good first period,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “That kind of carried them through the game. Those are repetitions you cannot buy. They learned from that.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.