SUNRISE — Brad Marchand felt the change in his first Florida Panthers game start Friday night.
“It was odd when I stepped on the ice,’’ he said.
Florida Panthers fans had to feel that way at the end, too. Marchand capped his South Florida debut with a pass from behind the Utah net to Sam Bennett, whose goal then gave the Panthers a 2-1 overtime win.
Then delivered a sight needing a moment to digest: Bennett celebrating the game-winner with his one-time rival. The bitter enemies were now best buds. The script, as they showed in a winners’ hug, got flipped.
It was all so odd, to use Marchand’s word, considering just last playoffs Bennett’s accidental (ahem) fist knocked Boston’s Marchand out of their playoff series. Panthers coach Paul Maurice was asked what he’d have thought back then if told Marchand and Bennett would hook up like Friday night
“Yeah, I’d have thought they’d hook up around the net five or six times and then another group go at it, too,’’ he said.
This is going to work for the Panthers. No doubt. The only thing missing from the picture right now is Matthew Tkachuk, who could complete this rare and punishing line if he returns healthy in the playoffs.
As it stands, Bennett and Marchand play hockey in a similarly captivating manner where excellence is a matter of nasty will as much as high-end talent. Bennett always has been a heart-and-soul guy of this Panthers run, a part of the talented core who must be re-signed for this team’s center to hold.
Marchand has been that player all his career in Boston. Bennett and Marchand don’t just score – Bennett with his 24th and 25th goals Friday; Marchand with 21 in Boston – they bring an antagonistic personality that’s just as defining.
Marchand has crossed lines by licking players, or repeatedly punching a hockey pacifist like Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin in a final series. But all judgment changes when it’s your team’s guy.
Just ask Bennett. The last two seasons any playoff shift against Marchand was a skate down a dark alley. Now he’s on the same line, just like they were for Canada in the 4 Nations Faceoff last month.
“Sometimes, it’s just the way things work out,’’ Bennett said. “You can be rivals and enemies one day and, you know, as soon as you put on that jersey and plays for the same cause, everything’s washed away.
“You’re instantly great friends and teammates that are looking to win together.”
How Marchand is used will be Maurice’s challenge. Do they keep him on a line with Bennett and Tkachuk? Allow his physical manner to help Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart?
And on the power play? Marchand worked on the second unit of the Panthers’ power play Friday night. He moved from the right to the left wing. All that fits into a Panthers’ constant of changing lines or roles.
“He makes a lot of small-area plays, in traffic and corners, that are really hard to do,’’ Maurice said. “His hands are fantastic.”
He just needed a night to get comfortable in South Florida after a career in Boston.
“It kind of hit me, going out there, being cheered by the Panthers fans was a lot different,’’ he said. “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 though the years and you know when you have something special. That’s what you have here, and it’s what you want to be a part of.”
He wanted one other thing from his first night as a Panthers. His children had wondered about the rats on the ice – when they came, how they did. So, after his assist to Bennett on the winning goal, he did something for his children.
He picked up a couple of rats off the ice to take home.
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