Marchand assists winner, Bennett scores twice and Panthers top Utah 2-1 in OT | Sports
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Marchand capped his Florida debut by setting up Sam Bennett’s winner with 41.1 seconds left in overtime, and the Panthers defeated the Utah Hockey Club 2-1 on Friday night. Bennett had both goals for Florida, including one in the second with Mackie Samoskevich and Aleksander Barkov assisting. Utah tied it early in the third on Sean Durzi’s third of the year. The win pushed Florida back into first in the Atlantic Division at 44-25-3 with 91 points, one more than Toronto and two more than Tampa Bay. All three of those teams have 10 games remaining, and Florida faces those clubs three times — two with Toronto, one with the Lightning — down the stretch. The Panthers paid tribute to Utah forward Kevin Stenlund during the first period, as has been the case with all returning players who left Florida after winning last year’s Stanley Cup. He got a video and ovation during the first period, acknowledging the crowd with a wave. Stenlund got his ring in early January when the Panthers visited Utah. Takeaways Utah: The team gave up 14 unanswered goals against Detroit, Tampa Bay and Florida — going scoreless for 158 minutes
