Flames' Andersson says puck incident vs. Sens wasn't 'intentional'

Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson clarified he had no malicious intent to steal the game puck after Monday's 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

"Honestly, it was in the heat of the moment," Andersson said Tuesday via TSN. "I picked the puck up, and I didn't really think about anything. I was just really pissed off because they scored obviously a late one there. As soon as I realized it was his first NHL win and their whole team was yelling toward me, I chucked the puck back. It was nothing intentional or anything like that."

Senators rookie goaltender Filip Gustavsson earned his first NHL victory Monday after turning aside 35 shots. Andersson appeared to be taking the puck with him off the ice following the final horn before Ottawa's Brady Tkachuk got his attention to give Gustavsson the memento.

Flames make it difficult for the Sens to get the game puck for 22-year-old Filip Gustavsson, who got his first NHL win pic.twitter.com/HtTctLVSlg

- Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) March 23, 2021

Andersson hopes the incident won't create any bad blood between him and the Senators moving forward.

"Yeah, I mean, I think so, as I said it wasn't anything intentional," Andersson said when asked if the incident is now water under the bridge. "Obviously, it was his first NHL win, and obviously, he should get the puck. As I said, I wasn't thinking, 'I'm going to steal this puck' or anything."

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