Florida Panthers forward Patric Hornqvist, right, crashes into Calgary Flames goalie Dan Vladar during second period NHL hockey action in Calgary, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
CALGARY – Dillon Dube scored short-handed and had two assists for the Calgary Flames in a 6-2 win over the visiting Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
Rasmus Andersson, Jonathan Huberdeau, Tyler Toffoli and Andrew Mangiapane each had a goal and an assist, and Brett Ritchie also scored for the Flames (10-9-3), who improved to 5-4-1 in their last 10 games.
Calgary goaltender Dan Vladar made 30 saves for the win.
Nick Cousins and Sam Reinhart countered for the Panthers (10-9-4), who dropped to 3-4-3 in their last 10. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 17-of-23 shots in the loss.
Tuesday’s game marked the return of Matthew Tkachuk, a Calgary Flame for his first six NHL seasons, to the Saddledome after his summer trade to the Florida Panthers.
Tkachuk, 24, was a restricted free agent who told the Flames he would not sign long-term with the team.
He was booed Tuesday whenever he touched the puck, but the winger also received a partial standing ovation during a video tribute to him early in the first period.
The Flames got Huberdeau, defenceman MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt and a conditional draft pick from Florida for Tkachuk.
After scoring three unanswered goals in the opening period, the host Flames led 4-2 heading into the third.
Mangiapane and Dube combined on a second goal on an odd-man rush with Mangiapane finishing it at 18:54.
Bobrovsky stopped Huberdeau on a breakaway with just under five minutes to play, but Huberdeau collected the loose puck to feed Toffoli for a one-time blast from the hash marks at 15:22.
Both goalies gave up soft goals in the second period. Reinhart’s low shot off the rush from the top of the faceoff circle beat Vladar’s outstretched glove at 16:55.
Ritchie’s sharp-angled shot on a rebound tied up an out-of-position Bobrovsky at 15:29.
Trailing 3-0, the Panthers struck early in the second when Cousins redirected Gustav Forsling’s pass at 9:54.
Andersson scored Calgary’s third goal at 13:03 of the opening period. When Bobrovsky gave up a long rebound, the Flames defenceman got inside position on Florida’s Aleksi Heponiemi to get a shot away.
Huberdeau got on his stick on a rebound during a goal-mouth scramble. The puck deflected off legs and sticks and found its way into the net for a power-play goal at 9:21.
Dube’s backhand redirect beat Bobrovsky on a two-on-one with Mangiapane for the short-handed goal at 3:05.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2022.
