*Photo from AP News*
The most recent homecoming in the NHL didn't exactly go to plan. Rasmus Andersson had a goal and an assist, Jonathan Huberdeau had an identical scoresheet, and the Calgary Flames defeated the Florida Panthers with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday night in Calgary.
Returning home after a 3 game losing streak on the road, the Flames rode contributions from Huberdeau and Andersson, both posting a goal and an assist, to a win at home to snap the skid. Two other players had a goal and an assist as the Flames improved their record to 10-9-3 on the season.
Flames defenseman Dillon Dube said of the bounce back that "I think it was a good way for us to start the week and start the homestand. It was our goal tonight, whether it was a 1-0 hockey game or whatever the score was, we needed to win and get that home ice advantage for the start of this swing, so it's going to be really good for us."
Coming back to Calgary was Matthew Tkachuk, who spent the first 6 seasons of his career with the Flames. He refused to sign long term over the offseason and was traded to the Panthers for Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a first round pick. He received some boos and some cheers.
Tkachuk said that "I was looking forward to this game. It wasn't like we talked about earlier, like I needed this game to close the door on my history here. That wasn't the case at all. That door was closed a long time ago. But it's always going to be nice coming back here and playing for the rest of my career."
Dube started the scoring for the Flames, converting on a shorthanded goal 3:05 into the game to put the Flames ahead 1-0. With a power play chance, Huberdeau scored on the man advantage to double the lead for the Flames. Andersson scored 12:03 into the first period to make the lead 3-0, assisted by Dube and Noah Hanifin.
Midway through the second period, Nick Cousins scored to get the Panthers on the board, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Brett Ritchie answered back for the Flames to make it a 4-1 game on his 5th goal of the season. Sam Reinhart then scored for the Panthers, cutting the deficit to 4-2 with assists from Marc Staal and Anton Lundell.
Tyler Toffoli scored 15:22 into the 3rd period for the Flames, upping the lead to 5-2 with Huberdeau getting an assist. Hanifin and Dube picked up assists on Andrew Mangiapane's goal with 1:06 left in the 3rd to make it a 6-2 game.
Drawing the start for the Flames was backup goalie Dan Vladar, who put together a solid game in net. Vladar stopped 31 shots out of the 33 he saw from the Panthers, posting a .939 save percentage to increase his record to 2-4-1 to open the season.
It was Sergei Bobrovsky who started on the other side of the ice for the Panthers. Bobrovsky got the loss, saving 17 out of the 23 shots on goal the Flames had, recording a .739 save percentage. His record dropped to 4-6-1 with the loss.
Reinhart said of the loss that "I think every chance we gave them they capitalized early on. It's tough to play catch-up, especially when the energy isn't there. I think you want to come out, especially on a back to back, play simple and get yourself in the game that way. I think we made it too tough on ourselves early on."
Both teams resume play with Thursday night matchups. Jacob Markstrom is the projected starter for the Flames as they take on the Montreal Canadiens, while Spencer Knight is in line to start for the Panthers when they face the Vancouver Canucks.
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