1. Last timeout

The Flames, trailing 1-0, pushed hard for the equalizer on Wednesday in Detroit.

Like hard – as in full press.

And they got it from Connor Zary, who broke a bad wrist on the power play with less than three minutes left to force overtime against the Red Wings in their second game of this four-game trip.

But with just under two to go in OT, they were assessed a too many men penalty and Detroit would capitalize with a 2-1 win.

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After starting this roadie on Monday with a 4-3 loss in Ottawa, the defeat was disappointing, but the single point was certainly better than nothing.

“I don’t think this was our best game,” captain Mikael Backlund said in the locker room before heading to the airport for a flight to Columbus. “I didn’t feel like, until the third, we really got any pressure. We can play better than we did tonight. But it was an exciting game until the end. We have a big point. To get a point when you doesn’t.” ‘I’m not playing well, it’s big. But we’ve lost too many now, it’s time to win a road game.”

Zary’s power play marker marked the fifth straight game in which the team scored at least one goal while on the man advantage, as the team had had a breakthrough in that area.

“I thought it was a tough game, both ways,” said Head Coach Ryan Huska. “Again, a typical game for us, there wasn’t much space on the ice, I’m glad the boys stuck with it. We’ve talked about our power play a lot, and now we’re talking about it in a positive way, so that was a big goal for us tonight.”

Huska was asked about Zary’s progress this season as he continues to be one of the Flames’ most dominant players on the ice night in and night out.

“I think that’s the hope of all your young players, that they’re going to look at the older guys around them, and they’re going to make strides along the way,” Huska said. “That’s part of our job as a staff, to make sure they develop, and it’s part of the player’s job to make sure they do the job, and Connor has done that this year. His game has taken steps. It gets more and more difficult as the season goes on, so it will be a really good challenge for him to keep improving.”

This is the first time the Flames will play the Blue Jackets since former Flame and Columbus star Johnny Gaudreau, along with his brother Matthew, died in an accident while biking this summer.

It will be an emotional day for many of Gaudreau’s former teammates, including Rasmus Andersson, Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman and the team’s staff.