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SUNRISE, Fla. — The line of Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe encapsulates everything that makes the Florida Panthers so dominant in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The three players relentlessly forecheck opponents. Their offensive skill is elite, as they’re three of the top four scorers during the Panthers’ postseason run. They can shut down opponents, averaging 1.98 goals against per 60 minutes of play at 5-on-5. Thanks to Tkachuk and Bennett, they’re uniquely antagonistic, dishing it out and taking it, and then dishing out some more.

That combination of attributes makes them perhaps the most dangerous line in the playoffs. They could be the top-scoring trio on any team. Or a team’s checking line. Or its most annoying pests.

“It’s a deadly combination, all over the ice,” Florida winger Brad Marchand said.

Deadly for opponents. Fun for Tkachuk.

“It’s fun when we’re getting in on the forecheck and finishing hits and playing in their zone and getting good scoring chances,” he said after the Panthers’ 6-2 win in Game 3 against the Hurricanes, putting them one win from a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final. “I thought the building was electric. I credit my linemates for how they played, getting [the fans] going.”

Through 15 playoff games, this line has earned 65.4% of the shot attempts when on the ice at 5-on-5 and 57% of the expected goals. The trio is averaging 4.6 goals per 60 minutes, and its 70% goals-for percentage ranks third in the playoffs among teams that advanced past the first round.

Since Verhaeghe bounces between lines in the regular season, there’s not been the opportunity for the fans or Panthers players to formally name this line. Among the suggestions on social media — some more cynical than others — were “The Rat Pack,” the “Elbow Grease Line” and the “Immunity Line,” in reference to how they’re able to avoid NHL discipline while playing on the edge.

“We are kind of a line that can do everything,” Bennett said. “Chucky likes to hold pucks down low, he likes to slow the game down a little bit. Then, Carter is speeding the game up, he’s using his speed, he’s heavy and fast. Then, I’m kind of a mix of that. It’s just a line that we’ve found has been effective in the playoffs. I love playing with both of those guys.”

Three parts, three players and all of them bringing something different to the dominance.

“The diversity in style is actually a good thing for us,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.


Sam Bennett: “Definition of a playoff player”

Bennett, 28, was acquired by the Panthers from Calgary in April 2021. Tkachuk was with the Flames at that point. He wasn’t thrilled about the trade.

“He’s always had the talent. He’s always had the work ethic. He’s always had the bite, the jam, everything,” Tkachuk said. “I think a lot of his success has to do with opportunity. He didn’t get the opportunity in Calgary that he has here. I don’t know why that is.”

What Tkachuk has seen from Bennett in Florida is someone he believes is “the definition of a playoff player.” Bennett has 43 points in 54 games over the past three postseasons, while playing a physical style that has, on occasion, crossed the line into illegal and injurious.

Or as Marchand put it: “He’s got a good right hook.”

Bennett appeared to sucker-punch Marchand during the Panthers’ playoff series win over the Boston Bruins in 2024. It knocked Marchand out of the series for two games and didn’t result in further discipline for Bennett.

At the trade deadline in 2025, they became teammates.

“I didn’t hold a grudge. Again, I know how this game’s played. I played a similar way,” Marchand said. “It’s something that we joke about. I can laugh it off. I joke about it all the time. I joke about it more than he does, but I definitely joke about it.”

But Bennett has jokes. That’s something Marchand didn’t anticipate before getting to know him.

“He’s not as serious of a person as I thought he was. When you see him on the ice and you see him kind of around the media, he just seemed like he was quiet and very reserved. Once you get to know him, he’s actually pretty vocal and really funny and a good guy to be around,” Marchand said. “But when you see him on the ice, he’s so intense. He doesn’t really chirp. You don’t hear him during the game. He’s all business.”

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Panthers in complete control after Sam Bennett’s power-play goal

Sam Bennett’s power-play tally fuels the Panthers to a three-goal lead over the Hurricanes in Game 1.

Marchand and Maurice praised Bennett’s speed and shot, but Marchand was especially enamored with his truculence.

“He brings a physical aspect to the game that, especially this time of year, you can’t have enough of it,” Marchand said of Bennett. “Those are the guys that make a huge impact on the game, when you have to be aware of them physically on the ice and know where they’re at.”

Marchand would know.


Carter Verhaeghe: “Shows up in the big games”

Verhaeghe, 29, signed as a free agent with the Panthers in 2020 after winning a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in the previous season. He has become one of Florida’s biggest postseason heroes, improving when the regular season ends. Over the past four playoff runs for the Panthers, Verhaeghe has 11 game-winning goals. No one else has more than six.

“He’s a guy that really shows up in the big games,” Bennett said.

Version 1.0 of this line last season was very effective, too; Bennett and Tkachuk skating with winger Evan Rodrigues, one of the Panthers with the strongest analytics. But Rodrigues doesn’t have the offensive game of Verhaeghe, who has a 0.90 points-per-game average over his past 70 postseason games.

Verhaeghe split his time last postseason between Bennett’s line and skating with captain Aleksander Barkov. Maurice was comfortable moving around Verhaeghe in the past. This season, he couldn’t find the right time to pair Verhaeghe with Barkov and have it stick.

“I got it wrong the entire year. The first two years, I thought I was really smart. Every time I changed it, the lines take off,” Maurice said. “This year, I was a dumbass.”

Though Maurice couldn’t stick with Barkov, Verhaeghe really clicked with Bennett and Tkachuk in the playoffs

“I think our line works because we all kind of bring a different element to the line. We read off each other really well,” Verhaeghe said. “Chucky makes really good plays, so smart, so physical. Benny’s the same thing, kind of makes plays so fast up the middle. We just stay on pucks, like to be close together.”

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Verhaeghe’s backhand shot finds the net for Florida

Carter Verhaeghe goes top shelf on a backhand to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead in the first period.

With Bennett and Tkachuk making space and making plays, Maurice sees Verhaeghe as the one who can cash in on the chances they create.

“It’s Carter’s speed and his release, and all of their ability to jump on broken plays,” Maurice said.

Verhaeghe is a name familiar to any NHL fan who has watched the playoffs in the past few seasons. Bennett is gaining notoriety through memorable acts — ask a Toronto Maple Leafs fan about his collision with Anthony Stolarz — as well as his play for Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off and impending unrestricted free agency, where he’s expected to double the average annual value of his contract.

But neither of them has been a guest on “The Tonight Show.”


Matthew Tkachuk: “He’s a wonderful human being”

Tkachuk is a superstar. That was true when the Panthers traded star winger Jonathan Huberdeau and top defenseman MacKenzie Weegar for him in 2022, before inking him to an eight-year, $76 million contract extension.

That was true during Tkachuk’s performance in 2023, leading the Panthers in a shocking first-round upset of Boston and through the Eastern Conference playoffs before suffering a broken sternum in the Stanley Cup Final against Vegas.

That was true last postseason, when Tkachuk had 22 points in 24 games and then took the Stanley Cup for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean. And that was true at the 4 Nations Face-Off, when he and his brother created a sensation by dropping the gloves against Canada.

Tkachuk and Bennett have been partners on the ice for multiple seasons, establishing a second dominant line behind Barkov’s trio.

“He and Sam have similarities. They’re fearless in how they play. And then they’re exact opposites,” Maurice said. “But that’s truly how they complement each other.”

Tkachuk has 14 points in 15 games this postseason, which tells only part of the story. He has been his antagonistic self on and off the ice, like when he slammed a ball against a wall repeatedly during a Hurricanes news conference in Raleigh, with the media area separated from the Panthers’ workout area only by a curtain. And like when he slammed Carolina’s Sebastian Aho to the ice in Game 3 after Aho had taken out Panthers forward Sam Reinhart with a hit in Game 2.

“I don’t really look at it as intent or intimidation at all. It’s just sticking up for teammates,” said Tkachuk, who was given a roughing penalty and a 10-minute misconduct. “We’re a family in there. It could happen to anybody, and there’s probably 20 guys racing to be the guy to stick up for a teammate like that. That’s just how our team’s built. That’s why we’re successful. I don’t think any of us would be thrilled at that play in Game 2.”

After the game, the Hurricanes lamented not retaliating to the retaliation, worrying that Tkachuk would have gotten an opponent to take the bait again.

“They’re very good at goading you into penalties,” Carolina’s Taylor Hall said.

It’s frustrating, for sure. But Tkachuk has that effect on people. Even his coach.

“I hated Matthew when I was in Winnipeg,” said Maurice, who coached the Jets from 2013 to 2022. “And then you meet him and you go, ‘Oh my God, he’s a wonderful human being.'”

Maurice shared a story from after Game 3, when one of the Panthers invited a young fan who was battling cancer to the locker room area with his parents. Tkachuk left the team’s postgame celebration to say hello and chat with him.

“You need to see that because that’s real,” Maurice said.


ON-ICE PERSONAS can be much different than those away from competition. Maurice also points to “Benny’s Buddies,” a program that Sam Bennett launched with the Humane Society of Broward County. Every time he scores a goal, it raises money toward covering pet adoption fees.

“They’re really, really nice people. Then, the puck drops,” Maurice said of his Panthers. “They’re hard on guys. They are. And most of that is driven by how they feel about each other. They don’t want to let the other guy down.”

Marchand said that there’s a duality to hockey players. Their actions on the ice define them in public, in the media and reputationally around the league. But when they share a locker room, when they’re no longer opponents but teammates like him and Bennett, there’s a person you meet who’s at odds with the one on the ice.

“I think it’s just this respect we have for each other, understanding that what we do on the ice is our job. We’re competing for the same goal,” Marchand said. “At the end of the day, you’re willing to do things on the ice that aren’t typical of you as a person off the ice.”

Maurice, as he does, compared this duality with — of all things — shotgunning a beer in church.

“Have you ever shotgunned a beer? Have you ever been to church? Would you shotgun a beer if you’re in church? No, and that doesn’t make you a hypocrite,” he said. “There’s a context for all things.”

Within any context, Bennett, Tkachuk and Verhaeghe are one of the NHL’s most compelling trios — and an engine driving the Panthers to potentially repeat as champions.

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Vaughn homers in first Brewers AB: ‘It’s special’

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Vaughn homers in first Brewers AB: 'It's special'

MILWAUKEE — Andrew Vaughn is back in the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers and making quite an early impression with his new team.

The Brewers called up the former Chicago White Sox slugger from the minors on Monday after a sprained left thumb landed first baseman Rhys Hoskins on the injured list. In his Brewers debut, Vaughn smashed a three-run homer off All-Star right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the first inning of Milwaukee’s 9-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Vaughn acknowledged his homer felt particularly good given the circumstances.

“You definitely black out running around the bases,” he said. “It’s special. It put us ahead against a really good pitcher and really good team.”

Vaughn became the fifth player in franchise history to homer in his first plate appearance with the club. He was the first Brewers hitter to accomplish the feat since Gabe Gross in 2006.

And it’s just the start Vaughn could use as he seeks to rejuvenate his career.

The 27-year-old Vaughn hit 72 homers for the White Sox from 2021-24, but he had tailed off lately. He posted a .699 OPS last year that was a career low at the time. He followed that up by batting .189 with a .218 on-base percentage, five homers and 19 RBI in 48 games for Chicago before getting sent to the minors on May 23.

After acquiring Vaughn in a June 13 trade that sent pitcher Aaron Civale to the White Sox, the Brewers kept him in the minors. A spot on the big league roster opened up when Hoskins got hurt last weekend.

Vaughn gives the Brewers a right-handed option to pair with left-handed hitter Jake Bauers at first base while Hoskins is out. Bauers, 29, is batting .214 with a .331 on-base percentage, five homers and 18 RBI in 54 games this season.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Hoskins’ stay on the injured list “can be weeks, not days,” potentially giving Vaughn an extended audition. Hoskins, 32, has hit .242 with a .340 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 42 RBI in 82 games.

Vaughn had been hitting .259 with a .338 on-base percentage, three homers and 16 RBI in 16 games with the Brewers’ Triple-A Nashville affiliate.

That represented a major step forward after his struggles with the White Sox.

“I feel like my swing consistency’s been a lot better – swing decisions, just working in the cage and getting it right,” Vaughn said before Monday’s game. “There were some keys I worked on, just simple things. Don’t want to do a whole revamp of the swing because it’s probably impossible during the season, most hitters would say. Just small keys and getting it right.”

Vaughn wasted no time endearing himself to his new teammates. He started a 3-6-3 double play to end the top of the first inning before delivering his 409-foot shot over the wall in left-center field in the bottom half.

“To have him show up first day, not know anybody at noon, and then he’s in there and then kind of get a huge hit in the first inning to kind of open things up was a great way to say, ‘Here I am,'” Murphy said.

Vaughn is eager to keep making those kind of statements.

“That’s pretty cool, just to be a part of something bigger than myself, being part of the Brewers,” Vaughn said. “Just trying to do anything I can to help this team win.”

In other Brewers news, shortstop Joey Ortiz was held out of the starting lineup for a second straight game after going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts Saturday in a 4-2 loss at Miami. Ortiz is hitting .209 with a .269 on-base percentage, six homers and 28 RBI in 87 games this season, though he showed progress by posting a .748 OPS in June.

Murphy said Ortiz has been swinging better lately, but must make better swing decisions.

“I want him to give me his best approach at the plate,” Murphy said before Monday’s game. “We’ve given him a lot. We’re playing him every day, and we need him, and he can’t just have lapses at the plate like that. He’s got to fight through that.”

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Kansas extends offer deadline for Chiefs, Royals

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Kansas extends offer deadline for Chiefs, Royals

A Kansas legislative committee has extended a deadline for the Chiefs and Royals to take advantage of a stadium financing plan from the state.

The Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council on Monday unanimously approved the extension to use bonds to cover 70% of a new stadium’s cost if the teams decide to relocate to the state. The new deadline is June 30, 2026, although the committee indicated it is seeking an answer from the teams by Dec. 31 of this year.

Chiefs president Mark Donovan requested the extension late last month in a letter to Kansas Senate president Ty Masterson. The Royals verbally requested an extension around the same time. The deadline expired on June 30 but was retroactively extended Monday.

“Together, we have the opportunity to bring the National Football League to Kansas, anchored by a world-class domed stadium, new team headquarters, a state-of-the-art practice facility, and a vibrant mixed-use and entertainment district,” Donovan wrote in his letter to Masterson.

The Chiefs and Royals have played for more than five decades at the Truman Sports Complex on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri, where Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium share parking facilities. But leases with Jackson County are due to expire in January 2031, and the two franchises have been trying to plot a course forward for years.

Last year, Jackson County voters defeated a sales tax extension that would have helped to finance an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium — the home of the Chiefs — and a $2 billion ballpark district for the Royals in downtown Kansas City.

Last month, however, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session to approve a stadium financing deal that included disaster relief for the St. Louis area, where a series of devastating tornadoes caused widespread damage. The legislation authorizes bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums in Missouri, plus up to $50 million in tax credits for each stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.

If they choose to stay in Missouri, the Chiefs have floated plans for a $1.15 billion renovation of Arrowhead Stadium. The Royals have insisted all along that they intend to build a replacement for Kauffman Stadium.

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt has long professed his affinity for Arrowhead Stadium, which was built by his father and team founder Lamar Hunt. But he also is keenly aware of the revenue streams available by building a new domed stadium, including the chance to host the Super Bowl, the Final Four and other marquee sporting events.

Donovan commented Monday on the Chiefs’ looming stadium decision.

“Now, it’s literally getting down to the final points and making sure that everybody’s in agreement on what we need to do, and that we have all the pieces lined up,” he told reporters. “Because our job is to go to the Hunt family and suggest, ‘Here are your two options; they both make sense.'”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Twins’ Buxton to take part in Home Run Derby

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Twins' Buxton to take part in Home Run Derby

Minnesota Twins outfielder and Georgia native Byron Buxton was announced as the fourth participant in the Home Run Derby on Monday.

The Derby will take place July 14, the night before the All-Star Game, at Truist Park in Atlanta.

Buxton joins Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh in the eight-man competition. Buxton, who has 20 homers this season, is from Baxley, Georgia, and was taken by the Twins with the second pick in the 2012 draft.

In discussing his second All-Star selection with reporters on Sunday, Buxton beamed as he described the excitement of his 11-year-old son, Brix, who regularly plays the Home Run Derby on the MLB: The Show video game at home.

“He always is like, ‘Dad, if you do this, I want to bring you a towel!’ and I’m like, ‘All right.’ That’s all he cares about. He wants Dad to do it so he can bring me a towel and a Gatorade. And for me, that’s special,” Buxton said. “Out of everybody there, all the people he’s going to see, that’s what he wants and cares about. So, it’s the small things that add up to the big ones.”

The 31-year-old Buxton will be the eighth Twins hitter to take part in the Derby. Justin Morneau won the event in 2008.

New York Mets slugger and two-time winner Pete Alonso joined Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber in electing to skip the event. Both told reporters Sunday about their decisions.

Alonso was named a National League reserve for the All-Star Game in a season when he has hit 20 homers. He won the Home Run Derby in 2019 and 2021. It wasn’t held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m not necessarily called this year to do it,” Alonso said, according to MLB.com. “I love the event. It’s a sick event. I just didn’t really feel motivated to do it this year. I just figured I’d take a break, use the break as recovery and get back at it, help the team win in the second half.”

Although he’s not participating this summer, Schwarber left the door open to taking part next season when the All-Star Game will be held in Philadelphia. Schwarber has 27 homers this season and made his third All-Star team.

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