SALT LAKE CITY – The look of anguish on Mikael Backlund’s face post-game was a stark contrast to the smile he wore right up until puck drop.
At the tail end of a day he’d dreamed of for years, the frustration of the Calgary Flames captain summed up the roller coaster of emotions he’s experienced endlessly on his path to 1,000 games.
“We’re in a pit of doom right now, but we’ve got to climb ourselves out of it,” said Backlund of a 5-1 loss in Utah that came two days after being skunked 5-0 in Vegas.
“We’ve got to turn this around.
“That’s two tough games from us.”
It’s worse than that, as the stench of their two-game roadie comes on the heels of two consecutive losses at home.
After being the talk of the league with a franchise-best 5-0-1 start, the Flames have now given almost all of it back with a four-game losing skid that essentially puts them back at square one.
“There’s not a lot of sugar coating that can be done tonight. I thought we got outplayed,” said coach Ryan Huska.
“It’s a great night for Mikael.
“He’s always going to remember it, but he’s also going to kind of remember the way it ended up too.”
With all the respect and admiration his teammates have for him, it’s tough to believe Backlund’s bunch could respond on his big night this way.
Outworked, soft on the puck, and unable to establish any semblance of a forecheck of offensive pressure, the Flames were duds for the second game in a row.
Blake Coleman suggested we’d find out plenty about his squad following the Vegas loss, so this response is particularly disturbing.
“Definitely a disappointing night for the guys when it’s our captain’s 1,000th game – you want to win those,” said Ryan Lomberg.
“We’ve got to stay committed to the hard stuff all the way through. I find sometimes we get away from it and that’s when things go south on us. Nothing we can’t fix.”
The evening opened with a solo lap from Backlund, who was then joined by 19 teammates wearing his No. 11 jersey.
With his six best friends from Sweden standing rink-side wearing Flames jerseys with the number 1,000 on them, the 35-year-old beamed throughout the warmup.
Flipping pucks to his pals as several of his teammates wore his commemorative ball cap backwards, Backlund was clearly relishing a moment he doubted for many of his early years would ever come.
Wednesday morning, his teammates all wore commemorative hats and t-shirts while speaking glowingly of captain “Backs,” who re-signed in Calgary last fall with an eye on celebrating his 1,000th game with the club that drafted him 17 years earlier.
As he took the opening draw, his pals sang in the stands as if they were still in Europe.
Even the host Utah Hockey Club got in on the tribute with a salute during the first TV timeout, which drew a warm response from a crowd of NHL newbies that had never seen the Flames before.
Even they recognized the significance of being the 401st person in league lore to log 1K of action.
It all should have served to spur on a team that promptly fell behind 2-0 in the first period, which included a Barrett Hayton snipe with one second left.
Demoted to the fourth line as part of significant line changes Wednesday, Anthony Mantha brought the Flames within one early in the second, only to see the hosts respond 17 seconds later.
Two power play goals by Utah sealed the deal.
“It was an awesome feeling, skating a solo lap,” said Backlund of all the pre-game love he felt.
“That was a special feeling, for sure. It just sucks it didn’t carry over to the game.”
Sure didn’t.
“I thought we got outplayed in almost every position,” said Huska, particularly miffed at his forwards.
“The last two games, for me, there’s a little pushback with how we have to play. If we’re going to try to play a fancy, cute game, it’s not going to work for us.
“The last two games, the work ethic hasn’t been the way it has to be. That’s a big reason we’ve scored one goal in the Iast two games and allowed 10.”
For a coach whose club wants to be known as one of the hardest teams in the league to play against, is he concerned at how easy his group was to dominate?
“Sure, absolutely,” he said.
“Hopefully it’s something the older guys take upon themselves because what they stand for, or what they accept, is what we’re going to get.
“If they’re okay with it, we’re going to see that more often.
“There are a lot of people that aren’t okay with it, I’ll tell you that much, but we have to make sure we’re moving together in the right direction.”
The Flames host Jacob Markstrom and the Devils Friday, when Backlund’s entourage will be on hand to see him receive his silver stick.
There’s plenty of pressure on the lads to snap their skid and ensure they don’t dampen that party as well.
