Brad Marchand made his presence felt early and late for the Florida Panthers in their game Saturday against the host Minnesota Wild.
Marchand, who had missed seven straight games with an undisclosed lower-body injury, had a three-point night with a pair of goals — including the game-winner in overtime, lifting the Panthers to a 4-3 win.
It was Marchand’s 24th and 25th goals of the season; he now has 49 points.
Marchand returned to the lineup after missing the past seven games and gave Florida a 2-1 lead late in the first.
In overtime, Carter Verhaeghe brought the puck up from their own zone on a 2-on-1 and fed Marchand for the winner with 2 minutes remaining.
Saturday night was a Special Teams Special in St. Paul, with the Wild getting all three of its goals either on the power play or penalty kill. Florida got two on the power play, one in 3-on-3 OT.
Minnesota scored its first two goals with the man advantage, then took what was a short-lived lead in the third on a shorthanded goal by Matt Boldy off a turnover from Marchand.
After Sam Reinhart gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead with an even-strength goal in the first, Florida scored its next two goals on the power play.
Tied at 3 after Sam Bennett scored a power-play goal with 6:49 left, the Panthers killed off a Niko Mikkola penalty at 15:11 and started putting on the offensive pressure.
Florida did not get possession of the puck in overtime for the first 2:10 with Marchand scoring on the third possession.
NOTES: PANTHERS AT WILD
Reinhart hit 25 goals for the fifth time in as many seasons with the Panthers, tying the franchise record for most consecutive 25-goal seasons set by Olli Jokinen (2002-03/2007-08).
Marchand scored his 22nd career overtime goal, which ranks third in NHL history behind Alex Ovechkin (27) and Sidney Crosby (25).
Minnesota’s John Hynes became the fourth American to coach his 800th NHL game.
GOALS OF THE GAME
Panthers 1, Wild 0 (6:44 1st): Aaron Ekblad sends in a shot from the point that Filip Gustavsson initially stops but the big rebound comes into the slot where Sam Reinhart jumps on it.
Wild 1, Panthers 1 (9:17 1st PP): Kirill Kaprizov sent a sharp shot toward the net that clipped Ekblad and past Sergei Bobrovsky to tie it.
Panthers 2, Wild 1 (18:20 1st PP): Brad Marchand drives to the slot and sends a heavy backhander through the glove of Gustavsson.
Wild 2, Panthers 2 (4:33 2nd PP): Joel Eriksson Ek scores off a rebound from a Kaprizov shot.
Wild 3, Panthers 2 (12:09 3rd SH): Matt Boldy forces a turnover in the neutral zone and drives in to score.
Panthers 3, Wild 3 (13:11 3rd PP): A clearing try goes off Marchand and lands on Matthew Tkachuk’s stick — and he feeds Sam Bennett right down in front.
Panthers 4, Wild 3 (3:00 OT): Marchand gets the winner because of course he did.
FHN’S 3 STARS
1. Brad Marchand, Panthers
2. Sam Reinhart, Panthers
3. Kirill Kaprizov, Wild
ON DECK: GAME No. 51
FLORIDA PANTHERS at CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS Â
