Matthew Tkachuk and Seth Jones vie for Panthers' season record in key category

While Brady Tkachuk shatters offensive records with back-to-back hat tricks, his brother and favorite defenseman are in line for another Panthers' record.

Both forward Matthew Tkachuk and defenseman Seth Jones have each tallied 8 assists through the first eight games of the season. That's good for sixth in the NHL (the Panthers old buddy Connor McDavid leads the league with 14).

In football, the star quarterback praises the offensive line. In baseball, the ace pitcher thanks his defense. In hockey, the game-winning goal scorer relies on that crucial pass -- much like Brady did in Thursday's improbable overtime win against Vancouver when Seth Jones fed him from the blue line.

"It's just been great plays," Brady said as he was interviewed on the ice after the game. "Jonesy driving hard...I wouldn't be able to get that play if it wasn't for that drive."

Brother Matthew, meanwhile, set a Panthers record of his own earlier this week with five assists in a 7-3 win at Columbus.

Against the Blue Jackets, Tkachuk tied the Florida Panthers single-game franchise record for most assists, previously set by Aleksander Barkov (March 8, 2019) and matched by Anton Lundell (January 31, 2022).

He set a new franchise record with four assists in a single period, assisting on all three goals of Brady's natural hat trick plus a goal by Carter Verhaeghe. The Tkachuk bash brothers became the first siblings in NHL history where one brother assisted on every goal of the other brother's natural hat trick.

Some more numbers? Both Matthew and Jones, who have averaged one assist per game, are on pace for 84 assists. Jonathan Huberdeau holds the Florida Panthers single-season assist record with 85 assists during the 2021–22 NHL season. The NHL single-season assist record -- which may never be broken -- is 163 set by Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers during the 1985–86 regular season.

For now, like the standout defense for the Milwaukee Brewers who just punched their ticket to the World Series for the first time in 44 years, Matthew and Jones are content to play the supporting cast -- and rack up the points via assists.

"When I came on the ice, I saw (Brady) driving wide and I knew to kick it out to him and go to the net," Jones said. "He obviously has an amazing shot. He made some big pays for us when we needed him and we're lucky to have him."

By the way, the number 2 and 3 all-time assists record for the Panthers are both held by Matthew, who notched 69 in 2022-23 and 62 in 2023-24. The career high for Jones in assists is 46, in 2021-22 with the Blackhawks. As far as the start to this season, Brady certainly knows which two teammates to Kthank.

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