Veterans Shine as Calgary Flames Edge Florida Panthers

It was a night of renewed confidence for the now 13-14-5 Calgary Flames. Coming back into the rotation for his first game in 16 days, Jacob Markstrom stopped 34-of-35 shots to re-solidify his place as #1 among Flames goaltenders. Goalless for a full month (his last goal was on Nov 18 against the New York Islanders), Rookie Martin Pospisil found the back of the net with a deceptive backhand far side past Anthony Stolarz. And the 34-year-old Captain Mikael Backlund rose above all to prove that he had what it took on both ends of the ice to seal a win over the high confidence Florida Panthers. 

After several back-and-forth shifts between the two teams, Martin Pospisil opened the scoring on a partial break. Florida defenceman and former Canucks defenceman Oliver Ekman Larsson pinched low and left the Flames rookie with time alone to break down the right side. With a quick protecting move to pull the puck to his backhand, he picked a spot below Stolarz’ blocker to put the Flames up 1-0.  

Florida struck back with 31 seconds remaining in the first period with the man advantage. Matthew Tkachuk tipped an Alexander Barkov wrist shot low, and the puck settled in front of son of former Flame Paul Reinhart, Sam, who put a wrist shot past Markstrom to tie the game at 1-1. 

The two teams settled down in the second, exchanging only 16 shots. The name of the game became blocking the slot as both teams worked a heavy mid-slot collapse in their respective defensive zones. 

Scoring picked back up in the third as fatigue began to set in on both squads. Three and a half minutes into the period, Mikael Backlund picked off a pass on the penalty kill and tore up the ice on a partial break. With only Florida forward Max Reinhart on his tail, Backlund bodied his way to the net and fired yet another backhand shot past Anthony Stolarz. 

Florida began to dig into their chippy style. Former Flames Ryan Lomberg drew an interference penalty from Nick DeSimone and Sam Bennett delivered a harsh elbow on Blake Coleman while drawing a holding call from Blake Coleman. The Calgary Flames managed to kill both man advantages.  

With the score within one and 2:13 left to play, the hero Mikael Backlund received a call for putting the puck over the glass. Flames winger Jonathan Huberdeau made a harsh plea to the officiating crew that the puck went off his shoulder, but his words went ignored.  

The Panthers went to work with the late power play. The action all led to the front of the net where Jacob Markstrom made a game-saving stop before the puck found its way to the corner. With two bounces off the boards, Florida defenceman Brandon Montour found the puck and sent a shot off Blake Coleman’s shin pads. The Texas-born winger then skated the puck up the ice for a sure goal – only to have Montour take out his legs. Coleman’s shot missed, but the play was deemed an automatic goal. The Flames will now have two full days off before heading to Anaheim for a matchup against the 12-19-0 Ducks.