The Flames dropped a 3-1 decision to the Utah Hockey Club Tuesday night in Salt Lake City.
Rasmus Andersson scored for Calgary, while Dustin Wolf made 25 saves.
With the Calgary netminder pulled in the final minute, Utah got the insurance marker to seal the deal.
The Flames didn’t look like a team that had played 24 hours earlier in Denver, winning there 3-2 in a shootout. They showed speed and pace off the opening faceoff, with MacKenzie Weegar and Ryan Lomberg, one of the heroes in Colorado, both stopped on backhand attempts in quick succession by Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka.
Calgary carried the edge in shots past the midway point of the frame before Utah pushed back, both teams recording a dozen at the intermission.
Wolf made two massive stops in the first: denying Alex Kerfoot on a partial breakaway, and kicking out his pad to get a piece of Nick Bjugstad’s stick as he cut hard across the blue paint, knocking the puck wide before he could wrap it into the net.
Utah opened the scoring with 2:14 left in the opening frame after a prolonged possession in the Flames zone, Kevin Stenlund setting up shop in the slot and one-timing a pass home from Kerfoot.
Mikael Backlund put a backhand from behind the cage out front early in the second, the puck going off former Flame Nick DeSimone and onto the left pad of Vejmelka as he swept his leg back into the net, Blake Coleman pointing that he thought it was a goal as play continued.
On the next stoppage, the NHL situation room reviewed the play, and ruled the puck did not completely cross the line.
