Following two straight close road losses to the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings, the Calgary Flames headed to Ohio to play the Columbus Blue Jackets. The third game of a four-game road trip, the game was already slated to be emotional because it was the first meeting of the late Johnny Gaudreau’s two teams since his tragic passing in August. And fans tuning in received their fair share of emotion.

Multiple brawls broke out on the ice at Nationwide Arena involving the Flames’ Martin Pospisil and Ryan Lomberg with Columbus’ Mathieu Olivier, and through it the Blue Jackets came out victors. The final score was 5-2 in a game that Flames head coach Ryan Huska was only pleased with the effort “from some guys,” as he discussed in his post-game chat with the travelling media (via Flames TV).

“I didn’t like it tonight, and I can’t say that very often over the course of the year, but I thought we were a lazier group tonight,” Huska said. “I’m not overly pleased with our game… I don’t really know why, we just didn’t have a lot of guys that were at their best this afternoon I found. We have a way we have to play the game. If it’s not there consistently or if we’re looking for an easier brand of hockey, it doesn’t work for us. So, today, I thought we were looking for the easier game.”

The Flames came off the blocks hot to start the season but have cooled down as of late. The offense’s ability to create anything of substance on this road trip has been essentially non-existent. Their 2.28 expected goals per Evolving-Hockey were well behind Columbus’ 3.82 on the evening, and the scoreboard reflected the effort.

When the offence isn’t playing up to the standard it needs to be and doing the right things, it makes everything more challenging for the goaltenders, who have helped carry this Flames team through their great start. Dustin Wolf is a fantastic netminder but can only do so much. If Calgary is not playing the style Huska alluded to, the results will rarely land in their favour.

The Flames play one final road game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are coming off a nationally televised road win against the Boston Bruins. Ending November with a win would be a good way to cap off a rather decent month of hockey overall, but to do that, the effort has to be better.

“It needs to look like our team,” Huska said. “That’s all. I mean, we just need to make sure that we play the right way. We have a very particular style of hockey that we need to play to have success, and we have to bring that tomorrow.”

The Flames have already played the Penguins once this season, meaning it will be the final meeting between the two clubs for the rest of the year. The last result came at the Saddledome, a 4-3 shootout win for the Flames on Oct. 22. Now, with a Calgary group trying to pull themselves out of the mud, the result and, more importantly, the team’s overall effort to achieve the result will be as big a test as any.