*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
A Florida homecoming for two players ended up working out well. Adam Ruzicka scored twice and had an assist, Rasmus Andersson scored the winning goal, and the Calgary Flames defeated the Florida Panthers with a 5-4 victory on Saturday afternoon in Sunrise.
The Flames entered the game in the midst of a tailspin but were able to pull together a win on the road in Florida. Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar made their return to South Florida after an offseason trade, and Andersson made sure to get them a win with his game winning goal in a shootout.
Ruzicka started the scoring for the Flames with a power play goal 15:13 into the first period. Just 50 seconds into the second period, Nikita Zadorov scored for the Flames to double their lead to 2-0. Colin White and Sam Reinhart scored for the Panthers to tie the game 2-2 before Ruzicka scored again to put the Flames ahead 3-2 after two periods.
Early in the 3rd period, Eetu Luostarinen scored 1:12 into the final period to tie the game 3-3. Blake Coleman scored for the Flames and Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Panthers to force OT with a 4-4 game. It went to a shootout, where Anton Lundell scored for the Panthers, with Huberdeau and Andersson scoring for the Flames to secure the win.
Andersson said of his game winning goal in the shootout that "It's kind of a move I've done for quite some time, and I took a few shootouts in Stockton and it worked back then. It was a long time ago. It was nice to see it gone in, but honestly, it was just nice to get a win. It was a much-needed one."
Getting the start in goal for the Flames was Jacob Markstrom, who put together a win. Markstrom stopped 31 of 35 shots he saw from the Panthers, recording a .886 save percentage to improve his record to 7-4-2 this season.
For the Panthers, it was Spencer Knight in goal at home, who took the loss. Knight dropped his record to 5-3-1 in 9 games with an identical line to Markstrom, that being 31 saves on 35 shots for a .886 save percentage.
Florida head coach Paul Maurice said after the game that "This was sort of a tight, even game where I did not think one team had a long stretch of dominance. It was a pretty tentative start in the first, but we got going in the second. It is one of those games that, 20 years ago, would have ended in a tie, and you would have thought that was right."
The Panthers are back in action on Sunday night, finishing a back to back by facing the Columbus Blue Jackets, with Sergei Bobrovsky to get the start. Markstrom is in line to start for the Flames when they face the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.
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