Chris Tanev is back.

And the Maple Leafs are much better off for it.

The Leafs’ best defenceman played 17 1/2 minutes against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, his first game since Nov. 1 when he departed against the Philadelphia Flyers with an upper-body injury.

After starting alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tanev was reunited with regular partner Jake McCabe and shed some early rust as the game progressed.

“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,” Tanev said. “Definitely think I got better as the game went on, but still lots to improve on.”

Tanev got a couple of first-period turnovers out of his system and finished with two blocks in the Leafs’ 6-3 victory.

There had been speculation that surgery was an option for Tanev.

While he didn’t divulge the specifics of his injury, he made it clear he would not have been playing and it been unsafe for him to do so.

Safe to play

“They’re not going to let me play if they know something catastrophic is going to happen,” Tanev said. “There are things that could happen, but we discussed that with the doctors, and made the decision to play.

“There were steps that I had to do before I was allowed to play. Once that last step was finished (on Monday), if all went well, then I could make the decision to play if I wanted to.”

While we might not see it right away as Tanev gets back into a full comfort zone, the Leafs’ ability to move the puck out of the defensive zone, a sore spot all season, should improve now that he has returned.

The wily veteran was the linchpin of the Leafs’ defence corps in 2024-25, his first season in Toronto after signing a six-year contract in free agency, as the Leafs won the Atlantic Division title.

Tanev has played in just nine games this season because of injuries.

“I think if you look up good teammate in the dictionary, he would be right there,” Max Domi said. “He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever come across, one of the best professionals. He’s the ultimate pro. He goes out there and he empties the tank every shift, he does the hardest thing, and he eats pucks for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“Off the ice, his leadership and his experience, it calms our whole group down, gives us a lot of confidence.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com
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