It was another turkey away from home for the Calgary Flames.
At least their timing is right, given it’s U.S. Thanksgiving.
But it’s tough to swallow another road loss — this one 2-1 in overtime to the host Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night, making it five straight losses and eight in their last nine away from Scotiabank Saddledome.
The only forkful to take from the result was a point taken from the evening.
“I didn’t think it was our best game,” said Flames captain Mikael Backlund. “I didn’t think we got pressure — really — until the third. We can play better than we did.
“But to get a point when you don’t play well is big.”
That was made possible by a late third-period surge from the Flames that eventually led to a power-play goal by Connor Zary.
After Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin took a rare penalty for playing the puck backwards at the faceoff dot in the defensive end, Zary ripped a shot past goaltender Cam Talbot with the man-advantage with just 2:48 left in regulation.
The tying tally marked the fifth-straight game with a power-play goal for the Flames.
“That was a big goal for us,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “We talked a lot before about our power play, and now we’re talking about it in a positive way.”
The goal finally cracked what was an offensive challenge otherwise for the visitors, who began the affair with a strong effort but then ran into penalty trouble — again. Three of them taken in the first period stopped their momentum, and Alex DeBrincat scored on the first of those power plays for the only goal until Zary’s timely one late.
“I thought it was a hard game both ways,” Huska said. “It wasn’t a typical game for us. There wasn’t a lot of room on the ice, and I’m happy the guys stuck with it.
“I’m not disappointed with the effort at all.”
It was the second game of a four-game road-trip, which began Monday with a 4-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
The next game for the Flames goes Friday afternoon for what’s expected to be an emotional affair against the Columbus Blue Jackets (1 p.m.).
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s game at Little Caesars Arena:
HOLIDAY HISTORY
Despite the loss, the Flames woke up Thursday morning in a playoff position in the NHL’s Western Conference.
That’s significant because U.S. Thanksgiving is considered a historical benchmark in the post-season race, with the turkey day’s standings often reflective of which 16 teams eventually secure playoff spots.
So the Flames can certainly gobble up and savour that in the face of what happened Wednesday night.
“It’s tough to lose it that way,” said Zary, of the penalty taken and the power-play goal scored against in overtime. “It always sucks, obviously.
“The bright spot is we got one point, but I think all of us in this room want to win games. Whether that’s in overtime or whether that’s in the first 60 minutes, we’ve got to pride ourselves on doing that.
“It’s back to work. Have a good Thanksgiving and regroup.”
With a 12-7-4 record, they sit in the Pacific Division’s second slot — something to be especially thankful for after pre-season rankings pinned them deep in the division and the conference.
PENALTY WOES
The ugly spate of penalties that hurt them Monday in the nation’s capital carried over into early Wednesday in Hockeytown.
Against the Senators, they went to the sin-bin on nine occasions, with two power-play goals against contributing to the loss.
In this one, the Flames were flagged for three penalties in the first period, including two interference calls pinned on an unlikely source in Jonathan Huberdeau.
And the Wings made them pay on DeBrincat’s goal — a one-timer during the first man-advantage at the 6:33 mark to stake the Red Wings to a 1-0 lead.
“First five was good, until we got those penalties,” Backlund said. “And then the game got away from us.”
The Flames didn’t take another foul in regulation, but another ugly one on a too-many-men call led to the OT winner by Raymond.
“We’ve got to really stay out of the box,” Flames defenceman and regular penalty-killer Kevin Bahl told Sportsnet 960 post-game. “Can’t take those penalties right away, and then our PK’s got to be a lot better.
“We, as a PK, got beat.”
WEEGAR WONDERFUL
Although Zary was named third star, him and goalie Dan Vladar weren’t the only Flames standouts of the contest.
MacKenzie Weegar turned in a strong game, with Team Canada brass in attendance just to get a first-hand look at the defenceman as they attend to final selections for the country’s entry in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.
In nearly 25 minutes of ice-time, Weegar had seven blocked shots in proving his worth defensively.
And at the other end, the Ottawa native had an assist on Zary’s equalizer.
It all bodes well for a shot to make Canada’s blueline for the international tournament in February.
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