Point Taken

WASHINGTON – Forty-eight hours ago, it got away from them.

So, with all kinds of adversity staring them down again - having watched a two-goal lead vanish into thin air - there was only one thing on the mind of Flames fans everwhere:

How would they respond to it this time?

It was better. Great, even.

But not all the way there yet.

Adam Ruzicka and Dillon Dube supplied the offence, while Jacob Markstrom was excellent (again) with 21 stops on the night, but the Flames dropped a 3-2 decision in a shootout on Monday at Capital One Arena.

"It was a good night. For a road game, this is a pretty good one for us," said Head Coach Ryan Huska. "When you look at our three games, we've gotten better in every one and that's what we want to keep seeing. The way we played tonight is the way we'd like to continue to play.

"It's a step in the right direction, for sure. Yes, we would've wanted the extra point, no doubt - and at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. But we're getting there."

Tied at two entering the third, the Flames had a great chance to pull ahead early when Blake Coleman was awarded a penalty shot after being hauled down by John Carlson on a partial break. Coleman slowly worked his way into the zone and tried to go five-hole from the far hash, but Darcy Kuemper made a pad save to keep the game knotted. Then, with 6:08 to play in the third, Markstrom came up his biggest save of the night, calmly snaring T.J. Oshie's breakaway offering with the glove hand.

Markstrom made another sensational toe save in overtime when he robbed Evgeny Kuznetsov, who turned a corner and cut hard to the net.

But it wasn't enough.

Kuznetsov scored the only goal in the shootout, while all three Flames shooters (Jonathan Huberdeau, Yegor Sharangovich and Nazem Kadri) were stopped.

With the single point, the Flames' record drops to 1-1-1 on the year.

The Flames were all over the Caps right from the opening faceoff, launching the first 13 shots of the game and racing out to a 1-0 lead, thanks to some extended zone time that looked more like a powerplay.

“When you're on the road in tough buildings like this, you want to make sure you have a good start,” Huska said, driving that point home following the morning skate.

Well, it doesn’t get any quicker than this.

Hemming the homeside in their own end of the ice, Noah Hanifin smartly pinched down and spotted Ruzicka wide open between the hash marks. No. 55 put the puck on a platter and Ruzicka snapped it home (with authority) to grab his first of the season.

Ruzicka, who was promoted to the second line for Saturday’s tilt in Pittsburgh, is building off a strong preseason that saw him record four points (1G, 3A) in six appearances.

The Flames opened up a two-goal cushion with a powerplay marker at 17:12 – and, again, it was ‘Rosie’ doing a lot of the grunt work by hunting the puck down, protecting it along the side boards, and either dishing off or holding on to it in traffic to help open up seams.

But it was Dube who played the hero in this case, planting himself in front and showing great hands with a tidy tip of Hanifin’s point shot, beating Darcy Kuemper through the wickets.

That had to feel good for the bearded one, who moments earlier had a wide-open net at the doorstep, but partially fanned on the shot and saw the puck dribble wide of the cage.

Ruzicka, meanwhile, was working on a two-point game and how has three in as many nights this season.

"There's still a ways to go," Huska said of the towering forward. "We started him on the fourth line in the middle. He's just got to challenge himself a lot of the times to make sure he's consistent because, as we mentioned, the size that he has and the way that he can protect the puck, he can do a lot of things really well. Sometimes it's up to the player in regards to how good do they actually want to be."

Along with a 2-0 lead, the Flames carried an 18-3 shot advantage into the middle frame.

Former Flame Matthew Phillips got the Caps within one early in the second, scoring his first NHL goal on a beautiful, backdoor feed from Sonny Milano. Phillips won a foot race and drove hard to the paint, before connecting with the Milano pass and roofing it in tight.

Phillips factored into the scoring yet again to help the Caps even the count at 9:54. He picked up an assist when sprung Connor McMichael, who darted through the middle and squeezed a long shot through Markstrom’s pads.

Just like on Saturday, a period and half of good work by the Flames was quickly undone by a couple of costly errors.

“(Saturday’s) third period got away from us – and that's something we have to fix and be better for if we find ourselves in the same situation tonight,” Huska said at the morning skate.

The Flames out-shot the Caps 13-9 in the second for a two-period advantage of 31-12.

It set up for a wildly entertaining third where the two sides traded looks before the game progressed to OT.

"Those two, that's going to happen in hockey," Dube said. "For us, I thought we (handled it well). Shara, Greerzy and Walks went out the next shift and they had a grind shift down low and got the momentum back for our team. We built off that. We need that from each guy when momentum's not going our way to try and get it back as quick as we can."

One Timers:

There were all sorts of Calgary connections on the other side of the ice in this one. Phillips – who was drafted in the sixth round, 166th overall by his hometown team in 2016 – is in his first season with the Capitals after signing a one-year, one-way deal as a free agent during the summer. The 25-year-old played only three games with the Flames over his five years in the organization, but was a prolific scorer with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, leading the team with 76 points (36G, 40A) last season. … Former Flames Associate Coach Kirk Muller is now in his first season as an Assistant Coach in Washington. So, too, is former Wranglers Head Coach Mitch Love. … Finally, former Flames PTO Sonny Milano is in his second season in D.C. after 33 points (11G, 22A) last year.

The Lineup:

Forwards:

Jonathan Huberdeau - Elias Lindholm - Andrew Mangiapane
Adam Ruzicka - Nazem Kadri - Dillon Dube
Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato
A.J. Greer - Yegor Sharangovich - Walker Duehr

Defence:

Noah Hanifin - Rasmus Andersson
Nikita Zadorov - MacKenzie Weegar
Dennis Gilbert - Chris Tanev

Goaltender

Jacob Markstrom

Scratches: Dryden Hunt, Jordan Oesterle

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 40, WSH 23

Powerplay: CGY 1-5, WSH 0-3

FO%: CGY 61.3% WSH 38.7%

Blocked Shots: CGY 14, WSH 18

Hits: CGY 10, WSH 14

Scoring Chances: CGY 22, WSH 19

High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 10, WSH 4

Up Next:

The Flames continue their season-long five-game road trip with a stop in Buffalo on Thursday, before rounding out their eastern jaunt in Columbus (Friday) and Detroit (Sunday).