The Calgary Flames played a really strong third period on Wednesday night against the Detroit Red Wings.

The only problem is that strong finish came on the heels of a fairly unremarkable first 40 minutes, punctuated by some big mistakes that led to Red Wings goals. The Flames skated to a 4-3 loss to Detroit to snap their three game winning streak.

“I thought the start was tough,” said Flames blueliner MacKenzie Weegar following the game. “That’s sort of what they want, those skill plays off the rush that we talked about before the game this morning. So that was tough. But, you know, we felt good tonight. As you can see, I thought for most of the game we had the puck. We were coming downhill a lot of the time. Our PK did a great job. But I think ultimately the deficit was too big to climb out of.”

Detroit scored twice in the first period and twice more in the second period. In the opening frame, Alex Debrincat scored a one-timer off the rush, followed by Axel Sandin-Pellikka off some porous in-zone defensive positioning from the Flames. In the second period, an Adam Klapka turnover turned into a second Debrincat goal, and a tough bounce in the offensive zone sent the Red Wings in on a rush where Dylan Larkin scored to make it 4-0.

But give the Flames credit: they didn’t go quietly into the night.

As has become common lately, the Flames got a boost from their penalty kill in the third period. With Adam Klapka serving a minor penalty, Joel Farabee chased down a loose puck and was fouled by Sandin-Pellikka on a breakaway. That led to a penalty shot, the Flames’ first in about a year, and a goal by Farabee that seemed to give the Flames some life.

“I kind of knew in my head that you know their goalie kind of plays a little bit deeper in the net,” said Farabee. “So I just tried to get as much speed as I could and kind of just sell like I was going to go blocker side and just shoot low glove.”

On the next shift, the Flames cut the lead to 4-2. Kevin Bahl crashed and banged behind the Flames net, leading to a Detroit turnover and a rush play up ice, with Nazem Kadri finding Matt Coronato entering the offensive zone as the trailer. Coronato fired a shot past John Gibson to inch the Flames closer.

With just over five minutes left in regulation, Weegar blasted a point shot past Gibson – with some traffic helping out – to cut the lead to 4-3.

But the Flames ran out of time.

“Just a little too big a hole,” said Flames forward Nazem Kadri. “But honestly, I think we could have been better in the first, but I don’t think we were terrible. They’ve got a great opportunistic, skilled hockey team that you make a couple mistakes, it ends up in the back of your net. It looks a lot worse. Yeah, just good effort in the end trying to come back.”

The Flames finish their homestand with a 3-1-0 record. They’re now headed on the road, with many players’ fathers in tow, for the annual Dads Trip. They kick things off on Saturday night when they visit the Los Angeles Kings.

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