'It Was Good To Be Out There'

The Flames won’t be breaking out their alternate sweaters until later this week, but their Man in Black was back in action between the pipes Monday.

Jacob Markstrom returned to practice in Montreal after missing the first two games of Calgary’s all-Canadian road swing.

The Swedish puck-stopper was happy to get back at it ahead of tomorrow’s road-trip finale against the Canadiens.

“It was good. Obviously, it’s always frustrating when you’re not practicing, and you’re not playing games with the guys,” Markstrom said following the skate. “It’s been a few days since I had a practice with the team, since we played back-to-back, but it was good to be out there.

“The body feels good.”

That’s certainly a welcome sign for the Flames, who were last able to utilize Markstrom’s services in a 4-2 win over Nashville Tuesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome in a game that saw the Calgary goaltender turn aside every shot he faced over the final 40 minutes of play.

But even though the veteran was unavailable for selection in Toronto and Ottawa over the weekend - Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf shared goaltending duties over the two contests in Ontario - Markstrom has been getting himself ready to step back in between the pipes when called upon.

“Me and (goaltending coach Jason LaBarbera) skated twice during this time, I feel like we had to get some stuff done, now we’re feeling good,” he said. “Today, it was nice to get back with the guys.”

The story of the season, for Markstrom, has been his ability to make point-blank saves appear routine.

According to NHL Edge, Markstrom has made 83 high-danger saves to this point in the season, a figure which, according to the stats engine, is more than double the league average.

His high-danger save percentage of .889 this season is fourth among NHL goaltenders with more than three games played, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Tuesday night’s starting netminder in Montreal remains a mystery, for now, but Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska seemed encouraged, if not succinct, by what he saw out of Markstrom during Monday’s session at the Bell Centre.

“He looks pretty good to me,” Huska said.

For Markstrom, the week-long absence from live action hasn’t caused a shift in the way he goes about his business.

“I don’t think it changed much, it’s not been three weeks or two weeks, it’s still a short period of time,” he said. “I was able to skate every day except one day.

“I feel good now, and I’m excited to get back in there.”