NHL

Utah Hockey Club at Florida Panthers

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Marchand assists winner, Bennett scores twice and Panthers top Utah 2-1 in OT

Utah Hockey Club vs. Florida Panthers: Game Highlights

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 and 9 seconds before Durzi's four-on-four tally early in the third period.

Panthers: Marchand's new line — with Samoskevich and Bennett — was on the ice to start the game for Florida. Every time Marchand touched the puck, the crowd seemed to immediately increase its volume.

Key moment The Panthers staved off a power play that Utah was awarded with 3:23 left when Eetu Luostarinen was called for holding in a 1-1 game.

Key stat Utah is now 1-18-3 in games this season when it scores two goals or less. The win was a 2-0 shutout over Philadelphia earlier this month.

Up next Both teams play again Sunday, with Utah at Chicago and the Panthers home against Montreal.

Regular Season Series

FLA wins series 2-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 2:28 Sam Bennett Goal (24) Wrist Shot, assists: Aleksander Barkov (46), Mackie Samoskevich (14)
Goal 3rd Period 1:55 Sean Durzi Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Barrett Hayton (23)
Goal 4th Period 4:18 Sam Bennett Goal (25) Backhand, assists: Brad Marchand (27), Gustav Forsling (17)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/utah.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originUTAH https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/fla.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originFLA
12 Blocked Shots 16
28 Hits 28
2 Takeaways 3
15 Shots 32
0 Power Play Goals 1
4 Power Play Opportunities 6
0.0 Power Play Percentage 16.7
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
32 Faceoffs Won 20
61.5 Faceoff Win Percent 38.5
15 Giveaways 18
6 Total Penalties 4
12 Penalty Minutes 8
Florida Panthers Florida Panthers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Matthew Tkachuk, LW Injured Reserve Nov 26
Utah Hockey Club Utah Hockey Club Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Logan Cooley, C Injured Reserve Dec 13
Alexander Kerfoot, C Injured Reserve Dec 9

Game Information

Amerant Bank Arena

Location: Sunrise, FL
Attendance: 19,549 | Capacity:

2025-26 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Colorado 22 2 51 7
Dallas 21 6 47 5
Minnesota 18 9 41 5
Utah 15 15 33 3
Chicago 13 12 32 6
St. Louis 12 14 31 7
Winnipeg 14 15 29 1
Nashville 12 14 28 4

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Tampa Bay 18 11 38 2
Boston 19 13 38 0
Detroit 17 12 37 3
Montreal 16 11 35 3
Toronto 14 11 33 5
Florida 15 13 32 2
Ottawa 14 13 32 4
Buffalo 13 14 30 4
Full Standings