The Islanders led 3-0 before Brennan, playing in his first game with Florida after being acquired in a trade with Buffalo on Friday, started the Panthers' comeback.
Brennan scored at 5:09 of the third after rushing to the net and following up with a rebound.
"I just tried to throw one to the net and hung around and guys were on the outside and the puck kind of popped out and I threw it on net and the next thing I know it's in and guys are celebrating, so it was good," said Brennan, who didn't arrive in South Florida until late Saturday afternoon and didn't have a nameplate in the Panthers dressing room. "We got a little momentum off that. We had a lot of jump in the third, which is great, and it was great to see this team come out in the third and never say die. Not getting a point or two is tough, but a lot of character in here."
Brennan, who played for Dineen for two seasons with the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, ended up with 23:42 of ice time — second on the team behind only defenseman Brian Campbell.
It was an impressive Panthers debut for Brennan, who was selected as the second star of the game.
"That's what my expectations are as a player," Dineen said. "That's the level he's set in game one and that's what we're going to expect until our season ends this year, that he can go out there, he can log some quality minutes, he's got a good read for the ice and like a lot of people when they know they're going to get some confidence in them it makes a big difference. I think he got off to a good start tonight."
Link:
http://panthers.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2012020413