Bennett's OT goal lifts Panthers past Utah for 7th straight home win

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sam Bennett scored his second goal of the game off an assist from Brad Marchand at 4:18 of overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 2-1 win against the Utah Hockey Club at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday.

It was the first game with the Panthers for Marchand after he was acquired before the NHL Trade Deadline on March 7.

“He hasn’t played for a month now and he steps right in and is dominating and controlling the game,” Bennett said of Marchand, who last played on March 1. “That’s tough to do in your first game back, especially on a new team. I think he’s going to fit here real, real nice.”

Marchand, who had spent all 16 of his NHL seasons with the Boston Bruins, was coming off an upper-body injury he sustained against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had been practicing with the Panthers since March 11.

From behind the net, Marchand found Bennett at the bottom of the left circle for the backhand winner.

“[Bennett] did a great job kind of stopping in position for me to get it to him,” Marchand said. “He made a great play. It is great to get the win, be part of that with the guys. It’s nice to get out there and feel like you’re part of it.”

Sergei Bobrovsky made 13 saves for Florida (44-25-3), which has won seven straight home games.

The Panthers (91 points) leapfrogged the idle Toronto Maple Leafs (43-25-4, 90) to take over first place in the Atlantic Division.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “[Utah] played really well. They didn’t give up a whole lot, we had to work for it. We didn’t give up a whole lot, but Sergei had to make three really, really big saves because they got shooters on their team. I’m reasonably pleased with the win.”

Sean Durzi scored for Utah (32-29-12), and Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves.

Utah has lost three straight (0-2-1) including an 8-0 loss Thursday night in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. It is nine points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card in the Western Conference.

“Really good bounce-back game, proud of the effort, really proud of the way we showed up in this game,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “[Vejmelka] was rock-solid, a lot of resilience, a lot of character. He was really solid, the way he played, the way he fought, his compete level. … There’s a lot of positive in our game, we won a lot of battles and were tough to play against.”

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the second period, Bennett scoring a power-play goal on a redirect from the right post after taking a cross-ice feed from Aleksander Barkov.

Utah tied the score 1-1 at 1:55 of the third period on a 4-on-4 chance.

Durzi and Barrett Hayton got going on the rush, with Durzi scoring from the right circle by beating Bobrovsky glove side.

“Proud of the effort, loved our intensity. We had the right mindset,” Durzi said. “What happened in Tampa, happened in Tampa. Everyone and their grandmother knows that wasn’t a good effort. … Disappointed we didn’t get that one, though.”

NOTES: Florida welcomed back Utah center Kevin Stenlund with a tribute video during a break in the first period. Stenlund spent last season with the Panthers, helping them win the Stanley Cup. The Panthers gave Stenlund his championship ring on their trip to Salt Lake City earlier this season. … Maurice recorded his 913th career win and now sits one back of tying Barry Trotz (914) for the third-most in NHL history. … Marchand joined his former Bruins teammates A.J. Greer and Jesper Boqvist as the third Florida player this season to record a point in their debut with the club. Both Greer and Boqvist recorded an assist in Florida’s 6-4 win over Boston on Oct. 8 in Sunrise.