Brad Marchand delivered the final blow in overtime as the Florida Panthers continued their strong road form with a 4–3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.
Marchand scored twice, including the game-winner just three minutes into overtime, to lift the Panthers to their third straight road win and improve them to 5–2 over their past seven games. His decisive goal came on a 2-on-1 break, set up by Carter Verhaeghe after Minnesota’s Matt Boldy was unable to control a pass from Quinn Hughes in the Florida zone, allowing Verhaeghe to spring the rush the other way.
Sam Reinhart finished with a goal and an assist, while Sam Bennett also scored for Florida. Reinhart’s goal was his 25th of the season, marking the sixth consecutive year — and seventh time overall — he has reached that milestone. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 shots to earn his 207th career road win, moving him into third place on the NHL’s all-time list, trailing only Martin Brodeur (310) and Marc-André Fleury (246). Bobrovsky began the night tied with Ed Belfour before breaking the tie with the win.
Minnesota received goals from Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek, with Kaprizov and Boldy each adding an assist. Kaprizov extended his points streak to five games, totaling three goals and nine assists over that stretch. Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves for the Wild but fell to 9-2-4 in his past 13 appearances.
The Wild briefly grabbed the upper hand late in regulation when Boldy, playing in his first game after missing four with an upper-body injury, scored a short-handed goal with 7:51 remaining to put Minnesota ahead 3–2. Florida responded quickly, however, as Bennett tied the game just 62 seconds later on the same Panthers power play.
Marchand, who also recorded an assist, ultimately sealed the outcome in overtime, keeping Florida perfect in tight contests. The Panthers improved to an impressive 15-0-3 in games decided by one goal this season.
The night was also notable for Minnesota head coach John Hynes, a Rhode Island native, who coached his 800th career NHL game, becoming just the fourth U.S.-born coach to reach that mark.
The Panthers continue their road trip at Chicago on Sunday night, while the Wild will host the Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
