Flames give valiant effort for injured Tanev, fall just short vs. Canadiens

MONTREAL – In the midst of an intense, entertaining and costly battle at the Bell Centre, Darryl Sutter had a message for his troops.

“I told the players the toughest guy in the building is Chris Tanev,” said the Calgary Flames coach.

“Go do it for him.”

Despite a valiant effort, they couldn’t.

Tanev was helped off the ice midway through the night when a Nick Suzuki blast from the point caught Tanev in the head, leaving him motionless on the ice for the better part of a minute.

Replays showed he turned his head at the last second and took the shot in either the neck or the ear.

It appeared the Flames’ most important defender was out cold.

There was no blood, but there was plenty of anxiety as his teammates nervously gathered around for one of those scenes in which the sports world seems to hold its collective breath.

Eventually, he was helped to his feet and able to be guided off the ice with teammates holding him up and doing the skating by his side.

“It’s tough, I mean, he doesn’t stay down very often, so when he stayed down you’re worried,” said Jacob Markstrom who rushed to Tanev’s side, as did several other teammates. 

“I haven’t talked to him, but hopefully he’s okay.”

Sutter said after the game he’d spoken to Tanev in his shirt and tie and was well aware of the feeling and sound a blast like that is capable of. 

Sutter had a metal plate inserted under his eye to replace a shattered cheekbone after taking a deflected slapper in the mush in 1984.

“Following a visit to the hospital, all tests have shown negative and he has been cleared to travel with the team back to Calgary,” reported the team, via twitter, after the game.

“He will be reevaluated tomorrow.”

One can only imagine how quiet the flight home was, following a painful 2-1 shootout loss that sent the Flames back to Calgary with just two of a possible six points on a roadie in which the casualties have started to mount.

The team played Monday without Elias Lindholm, who was scratched due to an upper-body injury, and was missing MacKenzie Weegar, who had a non-covid illness.

Tanev’s departure left the team without its best forward, best defender and, for a spell, the team was without Nazem Kadri and Connor Mackey, who took turns in the quiet room for concussion protocol after taking head shots.

The team also killed seven penalties, putting tremendous stress on the rest of a lineup that included a full line of youngsters Matthew Phillips, Radim Zohorna and Adam Ruzicka.

The group deserves full marks for a gritty effort that included killing off a four-minute high-sticking penalty to Tyler Toffoli in overtime.

Under siege the entire five minutes of the extra frame, Jacob Markstrom made seven of his 37 saves to push it to a shootout in which a Jonathan Huberdeau goal wasn’t good enough to overcome finishes by Suzuki and Kirby Dach.

“Killed it off, gutsy,” said Sutter, whose club clung to a one-goal lead courtesy of Huberdeau, only to see it erased early in the third with a Josh Anderson redirect through Markstrom’s legs. 

“Marky was huge. I think people know how I feel about our goalies.”

In his last four games, Markstrom’s teammates have only provided him with a total of four goals, sending him racing off the ice in disgust following a stellar outing in which he deserved a better fate.  

“Every defenceman and everyone stepped up and kept it a zero game until the third,” said Markstrom, who sure seemed to have every bit of his confidence and form back his last two outings following a rough stretch.

“No, not really. A loss is a loss. You’ve got to be better than the other goalie and gotta let in fewer goals than the other goalie and that’s what it’s about.”

Eleven days after stealing a win in Calgary with 45 saves, Jake Allen did it again, stopping all but one of the 35 shots he faced.

The Flames put up one hell of a battle, which included a decision by Mackey to try sparking his team by handpicking a first-period fight with the Canadiens’ toughest hombre, Michael Pezzetta.

Mackie got a few early shots in before he was buckled by a few good punches to the head by a lad whose fight card includes Eric Gudbranson, Radko Gudas, Mark Borowiecki, Zack Kassian, Ryan Reaves and Rich Clune. 

Mackey left for the balance of the period to pass concussion protocol.

His teammates appreciated his effort on a night when everyone was forced to step up.

“We fought hard, it was a tough game,” said Huberdeau, who grew up a Habs fan 45 minutes away, making his first goal in seven games a peach for family and friends to see.

“Guys were blocking shots. Some guys went down and I think guys stepped up. I mean, it sucks we didn't get the win, but at least a point.

“Marky keeps us in the game. Made some huge saves. I'm sure he was disappointed in the shootout. But at the end of the day, he gave us a big chance to win that game. He played a hell of a game.”

So did Rasmus Andersson, who logged a career-high 31:30, which included the bulk of the four-minute kill in overtime. 

“The game had a little bit of everything,” he said, admitting he too was shaken by the Tanev injury.

“It's scary when you see anyone go down, especially when it's someone on your team. I hope he's doing well. It's scary but I thought we stepped up as a group. Obviously, it sucks that we lost in a shootout, because when you kill four out of five minutes in overtime, you almost deserve the win.”