CALGARY — Chris Tanev returned to the lineup to do something no NHLer had done all season: block ten shots.
None with his face.
His selflessness was infectious.
Days after a team meeting focused on how desperate the team needed to play to crawl back into the playoff picture before the Christmas break, Tanev’s team blocked 28 shots in an outing that saw the visiting Panthers record 78 shot attempts.
Jacob Markstrom also returned from injury to stop 34 of them, with only one beating him in a 3-1 win.
With both of them back in the fold, Florida didn’t have much of a chance.
Yet, with the Flames clinging to a one-goal lead with two minutes left, there were two former Flames battling at the top of the crease to try ruining Tanev and Markstrom’s magic.
To no avail.
With the Panthers’ goalie pulled and the Flames killing a penalty while Markstrom battled without a stick, a chaotic goalmouth scramble ended with the veteran starter instinctively kicking out his right pad to make a spectacular save on Sam Bennett.
It was the second time in the game he’d robbed Bennett in tight.
Moments later, Blake Coleman was sprung for a breakaway that wound up being called a goal after he was chopped down.
“The defenceman’s shot went into (Matthew Tkachuk’s) pants and no one knew where it was, so you just want to cover low-wise,” said Markstrom, who missed seven games with a fractured finger.
“So it’s nice to get one of those.”
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On a night when all the focus coming in was on former Panthers and former Flames squaring off, Markstrom was asked if beating the team that drafted and developed him gave him extra satisfaction.
“Not really — it’s been more than 10 years now. I think only (Alexander) Barkov was there when I was there,” said Markstrom, who has bounced back brilliantly from a horrific season last year.
“It’s a big win for us, especially with Chucky being there.
“It’s a little bit more special.”
As was the case last season, Tkachuk was booed every time he touched the puck, although perhaps not as vociferously as last year when the sting of his decision not to re-sign in Calgary still resonated.
Although his production is down this year, Tkachuk was instrumental in the Panther’s only goal, with his patented net-front presence leading to Sam Reinhart’s game-tying rebound late in the first.
Alas, a slick shorthanded finish by Mikael Backlund on a breakaway early in the third gave the Flames a 2-1 lead they clung two as the Panthers pressed hard.
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Markstrom, who has always seemed to thrive when well rested, stood tall with everyone eating pucks the rest of the night, including assistant equipment manager Corey Osmak who took one in the back while on the bench.
“When he’s fresh he’s really good, and I feel like he’s been that way for almost every game he’s played this year,” said coach Ryan Huska of his starter, whose club was outshot 35-24.
“Tonight he was different. He gave confidence to the group in front of him that he was going to make the save.
“We’re doing a better job at staying in shot lanes — it’s something we’ve been stressing for a long time to help out with some of the chances we give up early on.
“We feel like with the size of our two goaltenders, if we limit the quality of chances we’re giving up, they’ll make those saves through traffic a lot of times.”
Tanev’s return was monumental, reuniting him with Noah Hanifin and providing a backbone to a penalty kill that scored twice on two shots.
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Incidentally, the Flames’ sputtering power play missed on both its shots recorded in their five extra man opportunities.
“You look at the way he played tonight — he missed just under a week but he blocked shots right away,” said Huska of Tanev, who finished plus three.
“He is positionally sound all the time, and he’s a positive, supportive voice all the time.
“He’s like a security blanket for a lot of people, especially his partner.
“When you look at whoever he’s playing with, they tend to play at their best, and he did that again for Noah.
“He’s an important guy — it’s good to have him back.”
Scary to think about this team without Tanev, which may very well be the case in the new year when the Flames will have to start making decisions on what to do with their unrestricted free agents.
A story for another day, as his presence Monday played a big role in the Flames clawing back to within one point of the final wild-card spot, with two games in California left before Christmas.
