Andersson lifts Flames over Panthers in shootout
Calgary forward Ruzicka collects 2 goals and an assist in 5-4 win
Rasmus Andersson scored in the fifth round of the shootout to lead the Calgary Flames over the Florida Panthers 5-4 Saturday night in a matchup of teams that made a major trade last summer.
Adam Ruzicka had two goals and an assist for Calgary. Nikita Zadorov and Blake Coleman also scored.
Florida got goals from Colin White, Sam Reinhart, Eetu Luostarinen and Matthew Tkachuk.
Tkachuk spent six seasons with the Flames before going to Florida in a trade for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar on July 22.
Tkachuk scored with 6:14 left in regulation to make it 4-all and help force overtime.
"It felt good to get it to overtime," Tkachuk said. "It felt like we were dominating them yet it was somehow 4-3."
Ruzicka scored on a power play at 15:13 of the first period and Zadorov made it 2-0 with a goal 51 seconds into the second.
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Florida tied it with two goals in the second — the first coming when Colin White stripped goalie Jacob Markstrom of the puck as he played it along the end board, took off and put it into the vacated net.
Reinhart made it 2-all with a power-play goal from the slot off a pass from Tkachuk.
Both Markstrom and Spencer Knight ended with 31 saves.
"This was a tight, even game where I did not think one team had a long stretch of dominance," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "It is one of those games that, 20 years ago, would have ended in a tie. And you would have thought that was right."
Huberdeau, Weegar honoured
The Panthers honoured both Huberdeau and Weegar with a video during a break in the first period. The two were both drafted by and spent their NHL careers with the Panthers before the July trade.
Huberdeau and Weegar both stayed out together for warmups as fans cheered them on.
Florida captain Aleksander Barkov, Huberdeau's longtime linemate, sent one more pass his way before they both skated to their rooms. Huberdeau was booed when he came out — and scored — in the second round of the shootout.
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Tkachuk returns to Calgary for the first time since the trade later this month.
"I didn't expect to have that many jerseys out there and that was cool to see that," Huberdeau said. "I've been here a long time and I think they gave me a great ovation, so that was cool."
Barkov returned to the Florida lineup after missing Thursday's game against Dallas with an undisclosed illness. He did not practice on Friday. Defenceman Connor Mackey and forward Kevin Rooney were healthy scratches for the Flames. The Florida power play has scored in six consecutive games.
The Flames play at Philadelphia on Monday night. Panthers on the road at Columbus on Sunday night.
