On Saturday night in Calgary, the Flames proved pretty conclusively that they’re better than the NHL’s worst team, the Vancouver Canucks, in a 7-3 home win.

On Monday night in Denver, the Flames provide pretty conclusively that they’re not as good as the NHL’s best team, the Colorado Avalanche, in a 9-2 road loss.

While we’ve seen the Flames play up to their opposition quite frequently this season – including a recent overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks – the Flames failed to do so against the Avalanche. They were on their heels for the bulk of the first period, getting out-shot 26-9 and allowing four goals on the first 16 shots faced by goaltender Dustin Wolf – leading to a mercy pull for Wolf just 9:19 into the game.

Flames head coach Ryan Huska was understandably displeased by his team’s start when speaking to the media post-game.

“Well, the first 10 minutes, not ready to start,” said Huska, via Flames TV. “You know, we took two poor penalties, and when you get yourself into that situation and they score on both of them, it’s pretty tough to come back in.”

Heading into Monday’s game, the Avalanche were obviously favoured at home given their record and how stacked their roster is on paper. But you probably didn’t need to squint too hard to imagine the Flames doing what they’ve done frequently this season: playing a tight, structured defensive game and waiting for the Avalanche to make a mistake with the puck.

All due respect, the Flames don’t have the horses to run and gun with the Avalanche, and their only hope was probably to stick to what’s worked for them throughout this season – defensive structure, pace and details – and try to frustrate their more talented opponents.

Instead, the Flames got away from their details. Yeah, Colorado scored three power play goals. But on their six even strength goals, quite a few were the result of the Flames either cheating up ice to try to create a scoring chance (and then getting caught on the rush the other way) or running around in their own zone chasing the puck carrier rather than sticking with their structure.

“At the end of the day, it was a poor performance from our team pretty much through and through,” said Huska. “I thought we were very loose with our details tonight, and against a good team, we can’t play that way, the way we did tonight. So we ought to make sure that we learn from it. We’re back here in a little bit.”

The Flames have five games remaining on their road trip, including a return engagement with the Avalanche on Apr. 9. In a measuring stick game against a strong team with championship aspirations, Huska seems keen to use the loss to help his club learn some lessons going forward.

“You don’t toss it out,” said Huska. “Like, we weren’t very good in a lot of areas, So we’ll have to address it and then you move on from it.”

The Flames are back in action on Thursday when they face the Vegas Golden Knights.