Marchand returns from bereavement leave to lift Panthers above .500 with OT win
Games and goals — and even seasons — tend to run together when you have appeared in 1,111 games, scored 430 goals and won two titles in 17 years as an NHL player as Brad Marchand has.
But you best believe he will remember with great detail the events of Nov. 1, 2025.
Marchand’s terrible week ended with joy.
In his first game back since bereavement leave spent with longtime friend JP MacCallum following the death of MacCallum’s 10-year-old daughter, Selah, of cancer, Marchand scored in regulation and then had the lone goal of shootout to lift the Panthers past the Dallas Stars 4-3 Saturday night. With the win, the Panthers (6-5-1) are above .500 for the first time since Oct. 15. The visiting Stars dropped to 6-3-3.
“If anything, this week has taught me that there’s so many incredible moments in life that you just have to enjoy and not to take too seriously and just kind of be in the moment,” Marchand said. “You know, I wasn’t nervous or anything. You know, if there was more great opportunity to honor Selah. I knew all the guys were watching back home (in Halifax, Nova Scotia), and you know she’s watching from above. ... I knew she was with me in that way.”
Marchand slipped the game-winner through the legs of Stars goalie Casey DeSmith after teammate Evan Rodrigues mentioned a potential vulnerability prior to Marchand’s attempt — the third and last of the Panthers in the shootout. The Stars struggled to find the target on their three attempts against Sergei Bobrovsky in the shootout.
Marchand, meanwhile, was the best player on the ice all night, showing no rust after a weeklong absence. He had three good looks against DeSmith in one exchange during a scoreless first period, and then broke the 0-0 tie 108 seconds into the second period.
Anton Lundell’s backcheck was the catalyst for the Marchand goal. He turned a Dallas opportunity into a Florida odd-man rush, finding Eetu Luostarinen at center ice. Luostarinen had a perfect pass ahead, and Marchand did the rest, besting DeSmith from the left wing and then pointing to the heavens.
Less than three minutes later, Sam Reinhart scored for the fourth game in a row and the 300th time in his career, blasting an impossible angle shot off DeSmith’s pads and into the cage. The goal was Reinhart’s 166th since joining the Panthers before the 2021-2022 season.
But all that hard work was undone in a span of just 14 seconds after a high sticking double-minor by defenseman Seth Jones.
Jones, who had just four penalty minutes in the season’s first 11 games, doubled that when he caught Justin Hryckowian in the face and caused a bloody nose.
Wyatt Johnston scored 72 seconds later, and then Hryckowian tied it up a quarter minute after that. Both players beat Bobrovsky high.
The Panthers took the lead again in the third period — courtesy of Sam Bennett’s second goal of the season — only to surrender it again on a Mikko Rantanen one-timer with 141 seconds left in regulation.
That forced Florida to play extra hockey for the second straight game. They lost in a shootout to the Ducks on Tuesday.
But they didn’t have Marchand that night.
He was the difference then, and again Saturday.
“He came in and it looked like he didn’t miss a beat,” Bennett said. “That’s extremely tough what he went through.. .. It takes a lot to come back and perform like he did tonight. He’s a great player, a great leader for a lot of guys.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2025 at 10:05 PM.