Tkachuk brothers propel Florida past Blue Jackets who struggled e"special"ly

Tuesday, October 13, 2026
By Kevin Rouch
krouch@cbussports.com

Damon Severson had two assists for the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday in their 7-3 loss to the Florida Panthers. File photo

In their first five games, the Columbus Blue Jackets have gone as their special teams have performed. On Tuesday at Nationwide Arena, it went poorly. The Blue Jackets lost 7-3 to the Florida Panthers and their special team play was atrocious.

The Panthers, led by brothers Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, converted on four of six power play opportunities, while Columbus failed twice with a man advantage.

Brady Tkachuk posted a natural hat trick, with all three goals coming in the second period, while Matthew assisted on five scores. Former Blue Jacket Seth Jones added four helpers.

As in Saturday’s loss at St. Louis, Columbus took a lead to the locker room at the first break. Also like in St. Louis, the Jackets fell apart in the second period and lost the lead for good.

One of the less than stellar moments that was symbolic of Tuesday’s contest came in the second period when Mathieu Olivier took a game misconduct penalty for slashing and the Panthers scored again. He reportedly apologized to his teammates after the game for committing the game-changing infraction.

In his post-game presser, head coach Rick Bowness called the mistakes leading to the loss “self-inflicted”. He added, “We beat ourselves in St. Louis, we beat ourselves tonight. So you have to hope, you’ve got to believe that that performance tonight will embarrass them enough to stop this, right? Because if they’re not embarrassed by that, we don’t want them on the team. It’s as simple as that.”

Here’s the goal-by-goal story from a less than “special” night for the Blue Jackets:

1ST PERIOD (FLA: 0, CBJ: 1)

With 5:41 remaining in the opening period, Kent Johnson got the Blue Jackets on the board first with an unassisted goal, the third time he has lit the lamp this season. As the Panthers tried to clear their zone, Matthew Kneis knocked the puck off the stick of Hunter St. Martin. Johnson collected it and moved to the net for the score.

2ND PERIOD (FLA: 1, CBJ: 1)

Brady Tkachuk tied the score at the beginning of the second period, his first goal as a Panther, when Matthew Tkachuck knocked an attempted clearing pass by Blue Jackets defenseman Carson Soucy out of the air and dished to his brother for an easy goal. 

2ND PERIOD (FLA: 2, CBJ: 1)

Three and a half minutes later, the Panthers were on a power play after the Blue Jackets first penalty of the game, an interference call. Once again it was Matthew Tkachuk to brother Brady. Matthew held the puck to the right of the net waiting for a passing lane to the crease to open up. When he found it, he put it on the tape of Brady’s stick who converted with a quick shot.

2ND PERIOD (FLA: 3, CBJ: 1)

With 9:30 left in the second period and Florida on the power play once again, Brady Tkachuk scored his third goal of the game when he took the rebound off a Sam Reinhart shot and put it into the net from close range. Matthew Tkachuk got the secondary assist on his pass to Reinhart.

2ND PERIOD (FLA: 4, CBJ: 1)

With 2:10 left before the second intermission, Carter Verhaeghe scored his second goal of the season on yet another man advantage opportunity for Florida. Brady Tkachuk picked the puck out of a corner battle and sent it to the crease with a quick pass that Verhaeghe wasted no time in converting for the score.

3RD PERIOD (FLA: 5, CBJ: 1)

Just 1:20 into the third period, on another power play, Sam Reinhart tipped in a shot taken by, who else, Matthew Tkachuk just inside the blue line. It was the Panthers’ fifth straight goal, the last four of which were with a man advantage.

3RD PERIOD (FLA 6, CBJ: 1)

Two minutes later, Carter Verhaeghe skated from the top right of the zone to the left circle and sent a wrist shot into the net. The Blue Jackets replaced veteran goalie Cam Talbot after that score in favor of Jet Greaves.

3RD PERIOD (FLA 6, CBJ: 2)

With 6:13 left in the third period, CBJ defenseman Denton Mateychuk scored his first goal of the season. In a D-to-D pass, Damon Severson sent the puck from the top of the right circle to the top of the left circle where Mateychuk snapped a shot into the net.

3RD PERIOD (FLA 6, CBJ: 3)

Just 20 seconds later, Cole Sillenger recorded his third goal of the season. He brought the puck into the left side of the offensive zone, then outmaneuvered Aaron Ekblad and broke away for a driving score to get the Blue Jackets to within three goals with 5:51 left in the third.

3RD PERIOD (FLA 7, CBJ: 3)

After the Blue Jackets pulled Jet Greaves for an additional skater, Sam Reinhart sealed the win for Florida with an empty-netter.

QUICK THOUGHTS: This was a game that the Blue Jackets and their fans will have a hard time forgetting about quickly. So many mistakes. So many unnecessary penalties. So much special teams poor play. Will this performance define this team’s character or will it be a wake-up call? Only time will tell.

NEXT UP: The bad news for the Blue Jackets is that they don’t play again until Saturday when the New York Rangers come to Nationwide Arena for a game beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Rangers are 6-1 with a home game against New Jersey set for Thursday.