Panthers' Brad Marchand dedicates 'special' goal to late daughter of close friend

Brad Marchand put the puck in the back of the net for the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, then pointed a finger in the air and looked to the sky.

The reason was obvious.

This goal was for Selah.

Marchand's sixth goal of this season and the 430th of his career was unlike none other. It came three days after he was home in Nova Scotia, paying tribute to the life of 10-year-old Selah Panacci-MacCallum, the daughter of his close friend JP MacCallum. Selah died Oct. 24 of adrenal cortical carcinoma, a rare form of cancer.

"The hockey gods always come through," Marchand told the Panthers' broadcast after the second period, in an interview aired throughout the arena in Sunrise, Fla. "It was a really, really tough week. That's a special one to get for Selah."

So, too, was the next goal: Marchand also had what became the winner in the shootout, with the Panthers topping the Dallas Stars 4-3.

He said he knew all his friends from Nova Scotia were watching. He said he also knew someone was watching from above, too.

"I think it means a lot emotionally for kind of everybody in Selah's life," Marchand said. "She loved hockey more than anything and got so much joy out of it, just like we all do, and we play it because we love it and we have a lot of fun doing it. These are memories when you go through tough times, you kind of look back on and see if they bring a little bit of light in the dark moments and put a smile on our faces."

Marchand missed Florida's game against Anaheim on Tuesday to be with his friend's family in Nova Scotia and did so with the Panthers' blessing. Marchand filled in for JP MacCallum as the coach of the under-18 March and Mill Co. Hunters in Halifax on Wednesday night; Marchand co-owns the team.

Hundreds