SUNRISE, Fla. _ The numbers that cling to Owen Tippett's jersey are distinctive, a 74 that drapes off his shoulders, a 74 that falls off his back. It's an uncommon number in hockey, worn by fewer than 25 players in the history of the sport, a unique identification for the 18-year-old Florida Panthers rookie.
During the Panthers' 8-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night, No. 74 made his formal introduction to the hockey world, scoring the first goal of his NHL career as Florida opened its five-game home stand with a convincing victory.
Radim Vrbata notched the seventh hat trick of his career with a trio of goals, boosting a Panthers offense that only scored once in a midweek loss in Montreal two days earlier. It was Vrbata's first hat trick since Dec. 12, 2015 and marked the first three goals he scored since joining the Panthers over the summer.
Evgenii Dadonov scored twice, and Vincent Trocheck and Aleksander Barkov each added one goal as the Panthers (4-5-0, 8 points) won their second game in their last six tries. Goaltender James Reimer made 31 saves in his third start since Roberto Luongo's right hand injury.
As the Panthers ran away from the Ducks (4-4-1, 9 points) with a balanced attack and a suddenly stingy penalty kill and a potent power play, Tippett tried to wrestle the night away from Vrbata's hat trick.
Tippett's worn No. 74 for the last handful of years, when he was simply a younger teenager instead of the youngest player in the NHL. It was available when he was a member of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens, and coach Dan Sullivan doled out No. 74 to Tippett. It was open. Not many players wore it. He could make it his own.
So he donned it with another team in Toronto and then with the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads before being drafted by Florida.
Tippett is the Panthers' first-round teenage phenom, drafted with the No. 10 pick this summer and on the roster bubble during preseason training camp. He cracked the opening-night roster out of camp, but toiled for four games as a healthy scratch.
He watched the Panthers open the season without him, scratched for the first time in his hockey life. When Tippett did make his NHL debut in Philadelphia, Panthers coach Bob Boughner said he was Florida's best player on the ice. But he went goalless. In his first three NHL games, Tippett fired 10 shots. None went in.
The 11th came Thursday night. It finally lit the lamp.
Already leading 1-0, the Panthers forced a turnover in the neutral zone to create a two-on-one opportunity for Tippett and Jamie McGinn. Tippett led McGinn up the boards, then peeled off towards the net. McGinn carried the puck below the dot before sliding a pass over to Tippett in front of the crease.
Tippett kissed the puck off the post before it found the back of the net. The game had its second goal in the first five minutes. Tippett had his first goal in his fourth NHL game.
Tippett dangles the package of a 6-foot-1 frame, a lethal shot and speed in front of the Panthers during the season's opening spell. He's allowed to play nine games in the NHL before counting this season as part of his entry-level contract. After nine games, the Panthers have a decision to make: keep him in the NHL and burn a year off his contract or send him back to Mississauga.
The Panthers are currently without two injured forwards (Jared McCann and Colton Sceviour), meaning Tippett's climb to nine games could be accelerated in the coming days. Connor Brickley also exited during the third period after colliding with Anaheim's Derek Grant.
For the last two games, Tippett has been an anomaly of sorts: a fourth-line winger who is also a contributor on the power play. Playing alongside Micheal Haley and Derek MacKenzie, Tippett helps balance out Florida's lines, Boughner said before Thursday's game.
For Vrbata, his multi-goal night was the 35th of his career, scoring 64 seconds into the game off his own rebound and then again with less than three minutes remaining in the first period on the power play.
He made it rain hats at the BB&T Center when he snuck one past Ducks backup goalie Reto Berra in the third period. Three different Panthers collected primary assists on Vrbata's three goals.
