Way, way back on Nov. 7, Zayne Parekh left midway through the Calgary Flames’ game against the Chicago Blackhawks after he took a big, clean hit from Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno.

On Monday night, 87 days later, Parekh finally made his return to NHL game action in a 4-2 Flames loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The result itself, while disappointing, was largely immaterial. The Flames began the evening well outside the Stanley Cup playoff picture and were destined to remain in the same position regardless of whether they won or lost. But for Flames fans hoping for something positive to emerge from a season that will conclude with the regular season, Parekh’s first game back was the primary focus.

The best thing we can tell you is he looked like, well, Zayne Parekh.

Since the last time we saw Parekh in a Flames sweater, he missed a month recuperating from his injury, then was loaned to the Canadian national junior team for the World Juniors, then was loaned to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers on a conditioning stint. All-told, he played 11 games – seven at the World Juniors and four with the Wranglers – since his last NHL action.

And while he wasn’t quite at his record-breaking level that we saw at the World Juniors, he looked like the confident, dynamic puck-mover that we saw over the past two weeks with the Wranglers.

“I thought Zayne played well tonight,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “He looked comfortable on the ice. I thought he did a good job.”

Parekh lined up on the third defensive pairing alongside Joel Hanley. He also quarterbacked one of the two power play units, playing alongside Mikael Backlund, Morgan Frost, Yegor Sharangovich and Connor Zary, and looked good aside from a turnover at the blueline that led to a scoring chance for Scott Laughton.

But Parekh was given a regular shift throughout the game, playing 20:05 on the night, with his ice time ticking up with each successive period: 5:35 in the first period, 6:30 in the second period and 8:00 in the third period. Heck, he was on the ice for 1:54 continuously late in the third period with Dustin Wolf on the bench for the extra attacker as the team pressed for a tying goal.

Following the game, Parekh shared that “That’s kind of the best I felt all year” when speaking with the media.

“I just felt good with the puck,” said Parekh. “Like, that’s kind of the first time this year. I really had some belief and confidence. And, you know, I thought I was making a lot of good plays, you know, on the breakout and in the neutral zone. And, you know, when I was getting my touches in the O zone, I thought I was being patient and not trying to, you know, throw the puck away.”

If you want to give the rookie defender some constructive criticism, he was credited with just one shot – he had five shot attempts that were blocked by Leafs players. In such a close game, it would’ve been nice for Parekh to get a few more pucks through to create chaos (and secondary chances). Obviously there’s room to grow.

But if nothing else, despite the disappointing result, Parekh looked energized, confident and occasionally downright dangerous with the puck against Toronto. And if you’re hoping for Parekh to fulfill his ample potential, that’s excellent news.

The Flames are back in action on Wednesday night when they close out their pre-Olympic schedule against the Edmonton Oilers.

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