SUNRISE, Fla. — Last May, Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett were at odds after Bennett threw a ‘cheap shot’ that knocked Marchand out of most of the Florida Panthers’ second-round series victory over the Boston Bruins.

That made it all of the more fitting that Marchand’s Panthers debut ended with an assist on a Bennett overtime-winning goal 10 months later.

“I would’ve thought they hooked up around the net… five or six times,” coach Paul Maurice joked when asked what he would’ve thought if he was told about that goal 10 months ago. “And so then the other group.”

But it happened.

In the waning seconds of overtime, Marchand out-waited the Utah defense, threaded a pass to Bennett in the slot and he beat Karel Vejmelka with a backhand shot to secure a 2-1 win for the Panthers.

“I don’t know what it is, but sometimes, it’s just the way things work out,” Bennett said. “You can be rivals and enemies one day, and as soon as you put on that jersey and play for the same cause, everything’s washed away and you’re instantly great friends and teammates that are looking to win together.”

The two of them had a chance to work things out and play on a line together for Team Canada, winning the gold medal at the 4 Nations Face-Off. They picked up where they left off in Marchand’s Florida debut.

“Every time you’re able to play together, it definitely helps with chemistry and communication,” Marchand said. “We’re trying to talk on and off the ice about different things, what guys want. But such a big part of the game is reading and reacting. He’s a very smart player, he made a great read to put himself in position to get a good, quality chance and ultimately capitalize on it.”

Bennett was the star of the show — scoring a power play goal in the first period off of a cross-ice feed from Aleksander Barkov to start the scoring — but Marchand’s debut was not a quiet one.

Marchand gelled in nicely next to Bennett’s heavy, fast play style in his Panthers debut and return from a nearly four-week absence from an injury. Per Natural Stat Trick, Marchand created eight scoring chances, two high-danger chances and took four shots to add to his assist in 16:30 of time-on-ice.

“He hasn't played in, what, a month now—and he steps right in and is dominating the game. That’s tough to do on your first game back— especially on a new team. I think he's going to fit in here real nice.”

Marchand spent nearly a month with the team before he made his debut while recovering from an upper-body injury he sustained on March 1.

He had been attending team meetings since the day he arrived after the March 9 trade that had sent him to Florida and he was skating with the team since it visited his longtime home in Boston on March 11.

“You want to be with the group right away,” Marchand said. “It's the best way to build chemistry, build relationships and find your game on the ice with the group. It’s tough when you’re out, and the team’s traveling, and my schedule was different than the groups. I was just trying to spend as much time with the team as I could.

“The coaching staff has been awesome—they brought me in for all the meetings, pregames, to just kind of get accustomed to the way they did things around here which definitely helped me feeling more comfortable coming in today. It’s such a great group to come into. Everyone is so welcoming. Really good group in the room which made the transition really easy.”

Now, he finally got a taste of playing the style of hockey that knocked out his old Bruins teams from the postseason in back-to-back seasons.

“I love the way that the team competes and how calm they are in every moment of the game,” Marchand said. “They just have that confidence, that swag, all the way through and it’s contagious in the group and int he room. So, I have that aspect of it. But from Day 1 of coming here, I’ve always loved the way guys compete and the way they work, how they take care of themselves and it’s fun to see.”