PITTSBURGH – Dan Vladar had every reason to hold his head high.
After all, he’d just stood on it for 65 minutes and change.
Even though he wasn’t able to author the finish he’d like, deep down he knew that on this night, the game won.
Hockey was the winner.
Only one team can take home two points every night, and it was Vladar whose Flames fell one save short in a memorable 2-1 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
What made the night so special was Evgeni Malkin finishing it with the legendary drama that has made the three-time Stanley Cup winner a shoe-in for the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The type of moment that makes the player and the game so great.
In time, Vladar will fully understand that what he was part of was, well, history.
“Good for him,” said the soft-spoken Vladar.
“But he could have saved that one for the next game.”
A brief smile crossed his face.
With 38 saves, the Flames backup returned to action for the first time in two weeks as the game’s obvious first star… until Malkin decided to go all Malkin on him.
On the eve of U.S. Thanksgiving, with a crowd amped up by a pre-game ceremony celebrating Malkin’s 1,000th game on Sunday, the Russian superstar was tapped on his broad shoulders to take the fourth shot in a shootout poised to be clinched with his heroics.
With the crowd chanting “Ge-no, Ge-no” he calmly wound his way down the ice for a deke he finished with a backhand that beat Vladar and blew the roof off of PPG Paints Arena.
As his teammates spilled onto the ice to mob the 36-year-old legend, he tossed his stick into the crowd and the celebration intensified.
“I thought I had it – I don’t know if it hit my pad or my glove and it just went over it, top shelf,” said the lanky Czech netminder.
“What a player. What a career he’s having. I obviously grew up watching him – Czech and Russia was always a big rivalry.
“It’s a pleasure sharing the ice with him and all the other guys. But at the same time, if you play against those guys you want to beat them because it’s one of those stories you can tell your grandkids one day.”
Despite the loss, Flames coach Darryl Sutter was also in awe of the special moment.
“That’s the best part of our game, the honesty of our game – they have a night for him and he’s the guy who ends up winning it for them, so good for him,” said Sutter, whose club has points in five of six.
“It’s awesome to see them guys.
“We don’t play them very often, so to get to see them guys, they’re special players.”
He was obviously including Sidney Crosby, who also scored in the shootout, which saw Vladar beaten by three of Pittsburgh’s four participants.
Flames shootout goals by Jonathan Huberdeau and Rasmus Andersson – who both scored identical shootout goals in their recent triumph in Florida – pushed the skills competition to the fourth round where a Mikael Backlund miss set the stage for Malkin’s moment.
The game start was delayed ten minutes by the love-in for Malkin, which saw every Penguin wearing No. 71 in warmup, followed by a silver stick ceremony involving his wife and son.
A charged-up Penguins squad promptly opened the scoring two minutes in when a Jan Rutta shot beat Vladar’s blocker side.
The two Czech pals later shared a nice moment after the game, sitting side by side in the hallway, sharing some smiles.
Vladar was rock solid onward, turning aside Jeff Carter, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, Jason Zucker and Kris Letang in close on several occasions, including late in the night.
His brilliance allowed a Dillon Dube redirection to tie it midway through the game, setting up a third period that had the building buzzing in a game Nikita Zadorov suggested was playoff calibre.
It was Zadorov who had eight of the team’s 21 blocked shots, which included four rather painful ones by Chris Tanev, who twice hobbled off the ice, only to return to the battle.
“It helps to have big feet,” joked Sutter of Zadorov’s ability to get in the way.
“We didn’t get the outcome, but I still think (it was) a good point,” added Vladar, playing for just the second time since Nov. 1.
“It wasn’t the best when you have that pregame ceremony.
“I didn’t play almost for two weeks and then I’m sitting for 10 minutes on the bench. It’s kind of hard, and the second shot goes in. At the same time, I think the guys battled. They were doing a great job in front of me, clearing all the rebounds and were just helping me out, boxing out guys and that helped a lot too.”
As a veteran who has created a few special moments for himself and the NHL over the years, Kadri said he appreciated how memorable the evening was for all those in attendance.
“Of course, you understand the guys that played before you and what they contribute to the game, and you’ve got to respect everything that they do,” said Kadri, who lost the handle on a shootout deke that trickled into the corner.
“Geno’s obviously had a hell of a career and he’s been a superstar for a long time, so I’m happy we were able to see it. Probably ended pretty well for him. But it was a good hockey game.”
Sure was, especially from a Flames team that continued to find ways to grind out points in three of the four games on this six-game roadie, which finishes in Washington and Carolina Friday and Saturday.
“Really good effort by our players – proud of them,” said Sutter, who praised Vladar’s effort while shorthanded late in the third and overtime.
“You’ve got to make saves. That’s what the backup goalie has got to do, come in and try to steal the game. He got us one.”
And Malkin gave us all goosebumps.