For the majority of the Calgary Flames’ game with the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night at the Saddledome, they had a handful of players that were absolutely dialed-in.

Facing one of the National Hockey League’s top teams as the Flames try to stay afloat in the Western Conference’s playoff race, goaltender Dustin Wolf and blueliner MacKenzie Weegar were simply excellent. (And you can make a case that this game was a representative sample of how great they’ve both been for their team all season.) Wolf made 31 saves, including 20 to keep the game close in the first two periods, while Weegar played a team-leading 28:08 and made several key shot blocks.

So it feels as if the hockey gods were being a bit cruel in overtime, as Reilly Smith’s pass attempt ricocheted off Weegar’s skate and glanced off Wolf’s shoulder before entering the Flames’ net to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 overtime victory. Two of the Flames’ best players being unwitting participants in their downfall.

The Flames allowed the game’s first two goals, but battled back with Joel Hanley’s goal with eight seconds left in the second period and a Matt Coronato goal 43 seconds into the third period to tie things up and force overtime. As has seemingly become a tradition of late, the Flames were resilient and simply refused to go away against a strong Vegas team.

“We fought back and I don’t think we were very good in the first period at all,” said head coach Ryan Huska, speaking to the media following the game.

“I thought we just dipped our toe in a little bit in the first period and I thought we got much better as the game went on,” said Huska. “And it’s a hard team. They’re a good team on the other side with size, they make it difficult on you to get inside and I thought as the game went on we got more more confident in that area. Massive penalty kill at the end of the game to allow us to get to the situation to get a point and unfortunately we get the bounce that goes against you in the end.”

Late-season hockey is often defined by razor-thin margins, and on Saturday there were two plays that will likely stay with fans for awhile. One is obviously the Vegas overtime winner off some unfortunate bounces, but the other was a near-goal by Blake Coleman in the second period. On the sequence, Coleman received a pass from Joel Farabee and chipped the puck at Vegas netminder Akira Schmid.

Schmid made the stop and Coleman tried to slow himself so he wouldn’t crash the net and topple Schmid over. The puck wasn’t completely frozen, though, and dropped through Schmid’s pads and lay behind him, precariously near the goal line. The play was called no goal on the ice, and a Situation Room review could not conclusively prove that the puck fully crossed the line.

“Yeah, we have some tough bounces lately,” said captain Mikael Backlund. “If the puck touched the line, it’s not a goal and I didn’t see the replays. I assume it did. But if we play, if we keep grinding, bounces will come our way.”

“It sucks,” said netminder Dustin Wolf. “You know what? I feel like we haven’t gotten any bounce to go our way in a numerous amount of games. I mean, how many times has the puck just sat on the line and just not crossed? It’s a tough way to go but we got a point and we got a good stretch here where I think we can make some ground.”

The Flames entered the game with two games in hand on the idle Minnesota Wild, and despite the overtime setback they gained a point in their chase for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference – appropriately enough held by the Wild. Calgary is now four points behind Minnesota with a game in hand.

Because Minnesota will likely hold the tiebreakers on the Flames, Calgary will have to finish ahead of them in points to qualify for the post-season. Any combination of 8 points earned by the Wild or potential points not captured by the Flames will end Calgary’s playoff pursuit. Any combination of 15 points earned by the Flames or not captured by the Wild will result in Calgary playing past Game 82. (Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article had the wrong math. It’s been corrected.)

The two clubs have 11 combined games remaining on the docket, including a head-to-head clash at the Saddledome next Friday.

“You know, we’re the underdogs,” said Wolf. “That’s the biggest thing, is we came into the year with everybody saying we were going to suck. And look at us now, we’re fighting for our lives to sneak in. And you know what? We’re going to get in. But in the meantime this one stings but we move on to the next one.”

The Flames are back in action on Monday night as they start a two game California road trip with a visit to the San Jose Sharks.