By ALANIS THAMES AP Sports Writer
SUNRISE, Fla. — Ducks coach Joel Quenneville returned to South Florida on Tuesday with applause, a welcome message and a win.
Troy Terry and Mason McTavish scored in a shootout, and the Ducks beat the Florida Panthers, 3-2, on Tuesday night.
Leo Carlsson had a goal and an assist, and Cutter Gauthier also scored to help the Ducks end a five-game trip with a victory in Quenneville’s first game against his former team.
Quenneville, who coached the Panthers from 2019-21, returned to Sunrise for the first time since resigning as Florida’s coach after details of a sexual-assault scandal involving his 2010 Stanley Cup-winning Chicago Blackhawks squad were revealed in October 2021.
“I’m appreciative,” Quenneville said after the win. “My time here was great. It was short, but I’ve been watching their success over the last three and four years.”
Carlsson buried a short-handed goal midway through the second period to extend his point streak to four games. He assisted on Gauthier’s power-play goal a couple of minutes later to give Carlsson a team-leading 11 points this season.
Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots for the Ducks.
Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart scored for the Panthers. Reinhart had the tying goal – his fifth of the season – with three about minutes left in regulation after the Panthers had trailed 2-0 midway through the third.
Daniil Tarasov made 15 saves.
The Panthers, whose depth has already been tested this season because of a rash of injuries, were without forwards Jonah Gadjovich (upper body) and Brad Marchand (personal reasons).
BACK IN FLORIDA
Quenneville and Blackhawks executives Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac were banned from the league for nearly three years after an independent investigation concluded that the team mishandled allegations raised by former player Kyle Beach against video coach Brad Aldrich during the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010.
The trio was reinstated last July. Bowman became the Edmonton Oilers’ general manager three weeks later, and Quenneville – the second-winningest coach in NHL history – was hired by the Ducks in May.
Quenneville – who won three titles in 10 years with the Blackhawks and last coached for Florida on Oct. 27, 2021 – has spoken of his growth since that incident, noting after his hiring that he has worked to educate himself on abuse.
“I own my mistakes,” Quenneville said in May. “While I believed wholeheartedly the issue was handled by management, I take full responsibility for not following up and asking more questions. That’s entirely on me. Over nearly four years, I’ve taken time to reflect, to listen to experts and advocates, and educate myself on the realities of abuse, trauma and how to be a better leader. I hope others can learn from my inaction.”
Quenneville has spent parts of 25 NHL seasons behind the benches of St. Louis, Colorado, Chicago and Florida. He led the Blackhawks to Stanley Cup titles in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
The Blackhawks fired Quenneville in November 2018 after a 6-6-3 start, and he joined the Panthers for the 2019-20 season.
Quenneville returned to the United Center in Chicago earlier this month to a mixed reaction of boos and cheers.
The reaction to his return to Sunrise was rather subdued. The public address announcer at Amerant Bank Arena called Quenneville’s name while a “welcome back” message flashed on the jumbotron in the first period. The crowd followed with a brief applause and cheers.
Quenneville has admired the success of the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions over the past few years.
“I remember when I came here, Vinny (Panthers owner Vincent Viola) told me, ‘We’re going to win the Cup. We’re going to win multiple cups,’” Quenneville said. “So he was right.”
UP NEXT
The Ducks host the Detroit Red Wings on Friday at 7 p.m.