FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Such a scene would have been simply unimaginable just a few months ago. Brad Marchand scores an overtime goal to win a playoff game, and Florida Panthers great-turned-executive Roberto Luongo pumps his fists and gives some hugs in celebration.
Well, it happened.
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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) looks the other way as a shot by Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand enters the goal to win the game in overtime in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) defends against a shot by Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) during the second period in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) deflects a shot on goal by Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) during the second period in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) celebrates after scoring the game winning goal during overtime in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) celebrates after scoring the game winning goal during overtime in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
They have history and lots of it, including Marchand scoring four goals against Luongo in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. Those goals came in Games 3, 4, 6 and 7 of that series — which just happened to be the ones that Boston won in that matchup, denying Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks that season's title.
But now, Luongo loves him. So, too, does everyone else in Florida, from the fan base to the players and everyone in between, with good reason. Nobody on the Florida roster has more points in these playoffs or a better plus-minus than Marchand, who will celebrate his 37th birthday on Sunday when he and the Panthers play Game 4 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“He brings so much life to our team," Florida forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “He's so energetic and obviously you see what he does on the ice. He’s such a great player and has been around for so long. I mean, yeah, not that long, but he’s a player-performer and he scores big goals at big moments and he’s done it all.”
Verhaeghe said all that while Marchand was seated to his left. When he got done with that answer, Marchand leaned in and whispered one other thing that he wanted Verhaeghe to add. Verhaeghe graciously agreed.
“Good looking, too,” Verhaeghe said.
Marchand — once a Panthers playoff rival — has gone from reviled to revered in Florida in just a few weeks. The shocking trade-deadline move that brought Marchand to the Panthers from the Bruins was a huge story at the time and keeps getting better now. And the OT goal on Friday added to his long history with Toronto, a team that he's faced in the playoffs on four other occasions and skated away as a series winner every time.
“Coming in, everybody embraced me and welcomed me," Marchand said. "And I feel like I’ve built some really, really good friendships already in a very short period of time. But also, when you see what the team is doing and what we’re trying to do and what we want to do and the way that we do it, you want to completely buy in and be part of it. And we have fun.”
Among players still in these playoffs, nobody has more postseason points in their careers entering Saturday than Marchand. The OT game winner on Friday was his 146th, tying Alex Ovechkin's career playoff total. (There are three active players — Sidney Crosby with 201, Evgeni Malkin with 180 and Nikita Kucherov with 171 — all with more playoff points, but their teams aren't still in this year's playoffs.)
His experience has been invaluable, even for a team that has plenty of players who were there for Florida's run to the Stanley Cup a year ago. Panthers forward A.J. Greer — who had been teammates with Marchand in Boston as well — said the former Bruins captain is “an exceptional person, an amazing player, and everyone respects him.”
“He does check a lot of boxes and he brings a lot to this team and we’re so happy to have him," Greer said. "And I think the Panthers fans are also happy to him. I don’t think anyone predicted that he's going to score a game winner for us a couple months ago, but it’s been an amazing ride and I’m really happy to have him.”
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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) looks the other way as a shot by Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand enters the goal to win the game in overtime in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) defends against a shot by Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) during the second period in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) deflects a shot on goal by Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) during the second period in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) celebrates after scoring the game winning goal during overtime in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) celebrates after scoring the game winning goal during overtime in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
SYDNEY (AP) — A child is one of at least 16 people killed in an attack in Australia at one of the world’s most famous beaches, officials said Monday.
Hundreds of people had gathered at Bondi Beach in Sydney for an event to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah, when gunmen opened fire.
At least 16 people are dead and 38 others injured in a terrorist attack authorities say was designed to target the Jewish community.
New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park said the death toll had risen from 12 to 16 overnight, including a 12-year-old child.
Three other children are being treated in hospital, he said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
SYDNEY (AP) — Two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing at least 11 people in what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation.
The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn’t suggest those and Sunday’s shooting were connected. It is the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.
One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second was arrested and in critical condition, authorities said. Police said one gunman was known to security services, but there was no specific threat.
At least 29 people were confirmed wounded, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.
Police said officers were examining a number of suspicious items, including improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspect’s car.
“This attack was designed to target Sydney's Jewish community,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said.
The violence erupted at the end of a summer day when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach, including hundreds gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.
Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs outreach around the world and sponsors public events during major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the event.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details.
Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi about 6:45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired. Video filmed by onlookers showed people in bathing suits running from the water as shots rang out. Separate footage showed two men in black shirts firing with long guns from a footbridge leading to the beach, as sirens wailed and people cried out in the background.
One dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.
Minns called the man, named by relatives to Australian media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed, a “genuine hero.”
Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer attending the Hanukkah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. Ostrovsky said he moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group.
“What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. “It was like reliving Oct. 7 all over."
"I never thought would be possible here in Australia."
Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told the AP he was waiting for his family when he heard shots. He dropped the beer he was carrying and ran.
"I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible."
Albanese told reporters in the capital, Canberra, that he was “devastated” by the massacre.
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.
He vowed the violence would be met with “a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith.”
King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “appalled and saddened by the most dreadful antisemitic terrorist attack.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on X he was horrified, and his “heart is with the Jewish community worldwide.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X: “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Antisemitism has no place in this world.”
Police in cities around the world, including London, said they would step up security at Jewish sites.
Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.
Last year, the country was rocked by antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population lives.
Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran.
Pastor Matt Graham was conducting a service at Bondi Anglican Church when panicked people began entering for shelter. He said antisemitism has been brewing in Sydney’s eastern suburbs including Bondi, where the Jewish community is centered.
"I’m surrounded by antisemitic graffiti constantly. I think for our community in the east (of Sydney), and as a Christian, I just want to declare I stand with the people of Israel,” Graham told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Israel urged Australia's government to address crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he warned Australia’s leaders months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against antisemitism. He claimed Australia's decision — in line with scores of other countries — to recognize a Palestinian state “pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.”
“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia ... and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said.
Mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws, making it much more difficult to acquire firearms.
Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.
In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.
McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Mustakim Hasnath in London contributed to this report.
A small Christmas tree is at the center of an abandoned holiday picnic at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Bystanders stay where police cordon off an area at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers standby at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
