Chris Tanev looking forward to shaking off the rust following return vs. Penguins
Tanev, who just turned 36 on Saturday, missed nearly the entirety of November and three weeks into December before he returned from an injury he sustained in a game on Nov 1 against the Philadelphia Flyers. That game was his first back after missing a few prior to that with another injury in October against the New Jersey Devils, so it had been a long time since Tanev played a full 60 minutes.
Tanev’s first 20 minutes back on the ice were a bit rough, highlighted by the Penguins’ first goal of the game that saw him get flat-footed on an odd-man rush, and another giveaway in front that goaltender Joseph Woll bailed him out on. He acknowledged this, but said he felt better as the game went on.
“I wasn’t great in the first, obviously gave someone a Christmas present in front,” Tanev joked. “Thankfully Joe [Woll] snagged it away. Those two plays in the first weren’t ideal, but missing nine weeks, you think you know how the game is going to go and what’s going to happen, and it comes a lot quicker than you think, especially missing so much time. So, I definitely think I got better as the game went on, but still lots to improve on, for sure.”
Tanev’s presence in the room was clearly missed by his teammates as well. Max Domi went out of his way to single out Tanev’s return as a big part of why the team won on Tuesday afternoon despite not being asked about him.
“Obviously, getting a guy like Tanny [Tanev] back is a huge boost to our lineup, he means so much to us and we’re very lucky to have him, he played unreal,” Domi said to the media after the game. “But overall, we just wanted to get a win going into the break.”
The Maple Leafs will look to start stringing some more of these efforts together after a much-needed break for the team for Christmas. Their next game is against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.