SUNRISE, Fla. _ Gerard Gallant held a white piece of paper in his right hand on Friday night, folded up like it had been in the dozens of times he stood behind the Florida Panthers bench as their coach. But this time was different.
As the Panthers beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in overtime, Gallant manned the other bench. He occupied the visitor's bench in the BB&T Center for the first time since his unceremonious firing last season. And on Friday night, his folded white piece of paper served another purpose: a salute.
With 3:01 remaining in the first period, the Panthers honored their former coach with a video tribute highlighting Gallant's 2{ seasons in Sunrise, when the team won an Atlantic Division championship and posted a franchise-record 103 points. As the montage ended and the crowd volume built, Gallant peeked at the video board above him. He raised his right hand and that paper and gently acknowledged the Panthers fans giving him an ovation.
So before Vegas' James Neal tied the game late and Aaron Ekblad won the game in overtime, the moment was poignant, given the different directions the teams' fortunes have gone since Gallant's dismissal in Nov. 2016. Gallant has guided the expansion Golden Knights to the top of the Western Conference, the biggest surprise in hockey this season. The Panthers, meanwhile, entered Friday 11 points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
But the Panthers found some satisfaction Friday night, a night when Florida honored franchise founder and former owner H. Wayne Huizenga by retiring the No. 37.
Ekblad's goal in overtime lifted the Panthers to a win, one that prevented Vegas from tying Tampa Bay as the league's best team with 65 points.
The game-winner followed three periods of back-and-forth between the teams, who met for the first time ever in Florida.
Panthers forward Jamie McGinn opened the scoring in the first period with his sixth goal of the season, pouncing on a loose puck in the slot and flipping a backhanded shot past Vegas goaltender Malcolm Subban. For McGinn, it was just his second goal in his last 17 games.
It was the second time the Panthers played the Golden Knights. It was the second time the Panthers scored first. It was the second time the Golden Knights would later tie the game.
At 14:22 of the first period, David Perron whistled a wrist shot from the left circle past Panthers goaltender James Reimer to tie the game at 1.
Then Barkov showed once again why he earned his first All-Star nod this season. As Florida was killing a power play, Vincent Trocheck and Barkov led a short-handed odd-man rush. Barkov dove to the net and jammed in a rebound past Subban's right pad.
It was Barkov's league-leading fifth short-handed goal and Florida's ninth of the season. Of Barkov's 15 goals, a third of them have been with his team down a man.
William Karlsson knotted the game at 2 with a goal at 6:54 of the second period, setting up the late heroics. Evgenii Dadonov's scored to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead in the third period, his third goal in the last two games after he endured a 19-game goalless drought. He banged home a rebound after Keith Yandle fed Aleksander Barkov for a shot in the slot off the rush.
As much as the Panthers needed a result to keep their postseason hopes alive, the night was dominated by off-the-ice storylines.
Huizenga's number became the second in franchise history to be raised to the rafters, following Bill Torrey's No. 93. Under Huizenga's guidance, the Panthers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 1995-96 and established a new home in Broward County away from the old Miami Arena.
Along with Gallant's return to the BB&T Center, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith both played their first games in Sunrise since Florida sent them away last summer. Marchessault was left unprotected during the expansion draft after he posted 30 goals on a $750,000 salary. Smith was traded to Vegas for a fourth-round pick the same night.
Marchessault and Smith have been rocks for the Golden Knights this season, combining for 78 points entering Friday night. But it was Gallant who earned the tribute and the ovation.
"You go out there, you coach the game," Gallant said before the game. "I know the fans appreciated the work we did here and they're really good to me. I love the fans here. Everything was good."
