Marchand scores in return, lifts Panthers to shootout win against Stars

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Brad Marchand scored and had the lone goal in the shootout in his return for the Florida Panthers, who recovered to defeat the Dallas Stars 4-3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Marchand scored the deciding goal before Sergei Bobrovsky stopped Mikko Rantanen in the third round of the shootout to seal the win.

Rantanen scored with 2:41 remaining to tie it 3-3 and force overtime, coming in from behind the net and redirecting a long pass from Sam Steel that beat Bobrovsky.

Marchand left the Panthers this week to return home to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to be with longtime friend JP MacCallum, whose 10-year-old daughter Selah MacCallum died last Friday from cancer.

“That was definitely on my mind,” Marchand said. “There are some incredible moments in life you just have to enjoy, not take too seriously and just kind of be in the moment. I wasn’t nervous or anything being out there. It was more of a great opportunity to honor Selah. I knew all the guys were watching back home. I know she’s watching from up above. I knew she was with me on that one.’’

Sam Reinhart scored his 300th NHL goal, and Sam Bennett also scored for the Panthers (6-5-1), who have won three of five. Bobrovsky made 19 saves.

“Hopefully there are a few more that go in for me now and 300 is not where it stops,’’ said Reinhart, who has a four-game goal streak. “I have plenty of hockey left, and it was good seeing it go into the net.”

Rantanen had a goal and an assist, Steel had three assists and Wyatt Johnston also scored for the Stars (6-3-3), who have lost two straight but extended their point streak to six games (3-0-3). Casey DeSmith made 25 saves.

“We got contributions from lots of guys, I think we earned it on the power play and got two big goals,’’ Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We fought hard in the third right to the end. Even when they got a late goal, we got a late one back. We responded. Those are all character things.’’

After a scoreless first period, Marchand gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead 1:48 into the second.

Anton Lundell got the Panthers going off the rush with Eetu Luostarinen finding Marchand at the blue line. Marchand rolled into the zone and scored off a wrist shot.

When he scored, Marchand pointed toward the sky.

“It means a lot, emotionally, for everyone in Selah’s life,” Marchand said. “She loved hockey more than anything, got so much joy out of it as we all do. We play because we love it. We have a lot of fun doing it. These are memories, when you have tough times, you can look back on and have a little light in a dark moment, put a smile on all of our faces.’’

Florida coach Paul Maurice said earlier in the day that allowing Marchand a leave during such a difficult time was an easy decision to make.

“That’s a tough week he went through,” Maurice said. “He hit the ice this morning for the first time in a week, and he is something to be able to play the way he did. He is just so impactful every game, he scored the first one, then the game-winner for us. Special guy.”

Reinhart made it 2-0 at 4:02 of the second, nearly deflecting a point shot from Evan Rodrigues when the puck went off the goal cage. Carter Verhaeghe tracked down the puck and took a shot that DeSmith stopped, but Reinhart got to the rebound and scored on a sharp-angle shot from the goal line that hit DeSmith on the left pad before going behind him and in.

Dallas got a four-minute power play at 13:25 of the second when Seth Jones caught Justin Hryckowian in the nose with his stick.

Dallas then scored twice in a 14-second span in the second period to tie it.

Johnston scored Dallas’ first goal of the power play at 14:47 to make it 2-1, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle coming in off the rush with Steel.

“It was gritty, lots of wall battles, both sides fighting over inches out there,” Steel said. “I think that’s the kind of game we expected, and that we wanted. We need to build on that. Keep building on that style of game.”

Hryckowian tied it 2-2 with his first NHL goal when he got in front of the net and popped a pass from Thomas Harley over Bobrovsky and in at 15:01.

Hryckowian said he briefly left the game to get attended to but made sure to be back on the ice for that power-play opportunity. He said he heard music playing during the delay in which Florida’s ice crew was cleaning up his blood, giving him a few extra moments to get ready to return.

“That felt good,’’ Hryckowian said of getting his first goal, “and I thought I played a pretty good game, too. Obviously we would like the two points, but it was a pretty good effort by the boys. … It ended up working out; we got two on that power play and it was a huge turn in the game.’’

Bennett put Florida back ahead 3-2 at 12:26 of the third. Bennett went to the net and a shot from Gustav Forsling hit him in the skate down low, and he was able to pull in the puck and put a backhand past DeSmith for the lead.

“[Forsling] saw me going backdoor and I kind of couldn’t find it, so I just whacked away,” said Bennett, who had gone seven games without a goal. “I am happy that one went in.”

NOTES: Rantanen scored the latest game-tying goal for the Stars since Harley tied up a game with the New York Rangers on Jan. 7, 2025, with 2:39 remaining. The Stars won that game 5-4. … The Panthers have won five straight against Dallas, including two at the 2024 NHL Global Series games in Tampere, Finland, last November. It is Florida’s third-longest active winning streak against an opponent behind only the Sharks (12-0-0) and Blue Jackets (8-0-0). … Reinhart has the longest active goal streak against the Stars at five games, dating to Dec. 6, 2023.