Bennett Scores Twice, Panthers Get Overtime Win in Marchand’s Debut

SUNRISE, Fla. — Sam Bennett scored twice, including the overtime winner, as the Florida Panthers defeated the Utah Hockey Club for its seventh consecutive win on home ice.

Brad Marchand made his Panthers debut and had the primary assist on Bennett’s game winning goal while Sergei Bobrovksy stopped 13 of 14 shots faced for his 31st win of the season.

The Panthers improved to 43-25-3 on the season and moved one point clear of the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Bennett gets both goals in win

Not many would argue if you said the hottest Panther coming out of the 4 Nations break was Sam Bennett.

That was certainly the case on Friday.

Bennett had both of the Panthers goals on the night, as he sits second on the team with 25 (Sam Reinhart, 35).

He opened the scoring 2:28 in the second after swiping at a pass from Aleksander Barkov to beat Karel Vejmelka backdoor for a power-play goal.

Bennett would end the night roofing a backhander over Vejmelka for the overtime winner.

In 11 games this month, the 28-year-old has six goals and 12 points (6-6-12).

Marchand makes debut

The Panthers made the trade heard around the league when they acquired 16-year NHL veteran Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins in the final minutes of the NHL trade deadline on March 7.

After sitting out a few weeks to recover from an upper-body injury that he sustained on March 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins — while he was still a member of the Bruins — Marchand finally made his Panthers debut Friday night against the Utah Hockey Club.

Ahead of his first game as a Panther, Marchand played all of his 1,247 career NHL games (regular + postseason) with the Bruins.

“It was odd when I stepped on the ice,” Marchand said of his first game not with the Bruins. “That was the first time it kind of hit me. Going out there and being cheered by Panthers fans was a lot different, but it’s a great feeling. It’s not often that you get to be part of a group like this.

“I’ve been on a lot of teams throughout the years, and you know when you have something special and you know you walk into a special room. That’s what they have here and that’s what you want to be a part of.”

Despite being the oldest Panther on the ice, 36-year-old Marchand didn’t look a step out of place, especially his speed off the rush. His production value doesn’t come as a surprise as he still put up 21 goals this season on a struggling Bruins team.

“He hasn’t played for a month now and he steps right in, and he’s dominating and controlling the game,” Sam Bennett said of Marchand. “That’s tough to do in your first game back and especially on a new team. He’s going to fit in here real nice.”

He finished the night playing 16:30 — 2:16 coming on the Panthers second power-play unit — and had the primary assist on Bennett’s game winner in overtime.