"I don't think so,'' said winger Matthew Tkachuk, in the wake of a 2-1 overtime loss to the bottom-feeding Buffalo Sabres. "I don't think we took them lightly or sat back or thought it was going to be any easy game at all.
"I think everybody in there is smart enough to know that any given team can beat you on any given night.
"They were a desperate team. We knew that coming in tonight. They've got some talented players. Some high-end skill.
"They just played better than us tonight."
The Sabres arrived at the Scotiabank Saddledome still wincing from a 7-1 drubbing by the Dallas Stars 48 hours earlier and languishing 31st, and last, in the standings.
But the Sabres' performance certainly wasn't reflective of those woes Monday night.
"If you were at ice level, it was hard-fought,'' said Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan. "They were battling. And we were a little out of sync, the game was a little choppy.
"We just couldn't find a way to click in a couple situations.
"I could tell even after we scored early that it was going to be a hard-fought, low-scoring game because they were in the trenches.
"We told our guys after the first it was going to get in the bowels. And it did."
Buffalo's 20-year-old phenom Jack Eichel pounded a fierce one-timer short-side on Flames' goaltender Mike Smith - a standout, once again - at 1:30 of OT, only three ticks of the scoreclock after a late regulation-time offensive-zone holding penalty to Calgary's Mikael Backlund had expired.
"I was trying to seal the guy out,'' sighed Backlund. "I've got to be more careful. I haven't seen the replay but it is what it is.
"It's a tough way to end the game. A tough way to let the guys down.
"I wish I would've done it differently but can't do anything about it now. We'll take a point and move on from it."
Ex-Flame Chad Johnson posted only his second win of the season between the pipes for Buffalo, and first since Oct. 15th, stopping 32 shots.
"I think obviously there's more motivation there,'' he admitted afterwards. "A little more, I don't know what it is, desire to … not stick it to 'em, but when they play me I'm sure they want to compete harder knowing me and I want to compete harder knowing them.
"So it was just a fun experience. It's been awhile for me, a tough year, so nice to get a win, especially tonight in my hometown."
The Flames have now collected points in nine straight games (7-0-2) but must believe they've left something on the table the last two, back-to-back 2-1 losses, to the Winnipeg Jets and now Buffalo.
"We didn't get enough done,'' said Tkachuk, whose nimble first-period deflection of a Johnny Gaudreau powerplay pass was offset by a Scott Wilson tally 24 seconds later. "Too many one-and-dones, in my opinion. We didn't have a ton of sustained O-zone (pressure). Maybe a couple shifts in the first half of the game
"But when it mattered …
"We got some good (penalty) kills to get us to OT but it's unfortunate."
Captain Mark Giordano voiced regrets.
"They lost their last one and were pretty upset about it,'' he reasoned. "I thought they battled hard all night.
"Tough.
"We've gotta get those extra points, overtimes and shootouts. They're huge, especially down the stretch."
