Flyers can’t overcome early deficit in 6-3 loss to the Flames, snapping a five-game point streak

The storylines were plentiful on Tuesday night.

There was the one centered on former Flyers Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost returning to Philly, and current Flyers Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier facing their old pals. Another was the battle of Calder Trophy candidates, Matvei Michkov and Flames goalie Dustin Wolf. And probably the most important one, with the Flyers and Calgary Flames each fighting for a playoff spot, was two big points at stake.

But returning home after a two-game road trip where they snagged three of four points — and with the NHL’s trade deadline looming — the Flyers started a season-high seven-game homestand with a 6-3 loss. It snapped a five-game point streak.

“When I see a group as lethargic and we were just sloppy, first of all, I flush it down the toilet, but I also have to figure out how it’s that second day after those long trips, I think that affected us,” coach John Tortorella said. “Give Calgary credit, they checked [and] it was hard to get through the neutral zone. We were sloppy, but they checked very well too. It was a group effort.”

» READ MORE: Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost return to Philly after trade with mixed emotions: ‘I think it will be a little weird’

The first period was a doozy with a flurry of goals.

Calgary scored three goals in 1 minute and 52 seconds — on five shots — and chased Flyers No. 1 goalie Sam Ersson out of the game. The Swede was back between the pipes after getting a full day’s rest on Saturday when the Flyers beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in a shootout. While he is known for his sharp angles and strong fundamentals, Ersson struggled and played only 9:32, the shortest outing of his 93 NHL starts (not including games he left with injury).

Connor Zary scored a pair with a Nazem Kadri goal in between. Zary’s first goal was on a redirect from in front, and 33 seconds later Kadri carried the puck through the neutral zone before sending a snipe from the right faceoff circle that Ersson didn’t react to. Zary added his first career multigoal game with a shot from the goal line that went off Ersson and in.

“[Ersson’s] been steady. He’s the reason you know that we’re able to stay in the race here for the playoffs. All the confidence in him,” Travis Konecny said when asked about the Flyers goalie putting this game behind him.

Ivan Fedotov, who looked stellar against the Jets, entered the game. The switch seemed to ignite the Flyers, who tallied a pair to make it a one-goal game.

“Going down, building’s quiet, just not finding our game in any area of our game, D-zone, neutral zone, offensive zone, we couldn’t seem to find some traction,” forward Noah Cates said. “When you get in, that [kind of trouble] you just got to be simple and I think today, that wasn’t really where our minds went after stumbling out of the gate.”

Cates did get the home team on the board with his fourth goal in as many games. From roughly the same spot he scored two of his three against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Cates sent a wicked wrister past Calgary’s Wolf. The marker came when the center corralled a loose puck after Tyson Foerster was hauled down, drawing a penalty, as he tried to get around Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson.

“Just confidence [and] shooting the puck, skating with it in different areas than when I was a little younger,” Cates said about establishing a new career-high with his 14th goal of the season. “Happy with my game, happy with how our line is playing and finding chemistry and just building every game.”

Kuzmenko then got on the board against his former team. The Russian stripped Kadri in the neutral zone, skated in, and used MacKenzie Weegar as a screen to get one past Wolf. In six games with the Flyers, Kuzmenko now has two goals and four points; he had four goals and 15 points in 37 games with the Flames this season.

“It‘s OK, but we [lost] today,” he said. “For me, is a good goal, yes, but not a great feeling, not a good feeling, because my team lost. I would change my goal today for the team to win.”

Just as soon as the vibes were back, the Flames restored their two-goal lead when 18 seconds after Kuzmenko’s goal, Yegor Sharangovich beat Fedotov five-hole. Fedotov made an initial save on Martin Pospisil’s shot but it dropped to Sharangovich and Fedotov didn’t have time to reposition himself or his paddle properly near the left post.

» READ MORE: Q&A: Flyers GM Danny Brière talks trade deadline, Scott Laughton’s future, and the team’s upcoming RFAs

In the second period, the Flyers had their chances. The line of Sean Couturier, Owen Tippett, and Michkov had a long shift with sustained pressure that was picked up by the line of Cates, Foerster, and Bobby Brink. Konecny, who has struggled o also hit the post with a slapshot from the right circle during a power-play.

Konecny played 21:01 on Tuesday, including more than six minutes on the power play. But he could not find the back of the net on six shot attempts, two of which were stopped by Wolf.

“You can probably assume how I feel. Pretty frustrated,” he said about his game right now. The winger has one goal in his past 15 games and just five of his 22 goals this season have come since Jan. 1.

Weegar made it 5-2 on a Flames power play with a shot through traffic. Frost got his second assist when he sent the puck up to the Flames blueliner above the circles. It came after he tried a between-the-legs shot from atop the crease.

Couturier cut it to a two-goal game in the third period when he poked across the goal line a flubbed shot by Michkov that got past Wolf. The Flyers had a late power play with Kuzmenko getting the best chance with a one-timer from the bumper but Matt Coronato scored a shorthanded empty-netter to seal the Flames’ win.

The Flyers welcomed Farabee and Frost back during the first television timeout and they received a big cheer from the fans. … Michkov skated 20:15, the most ice time he has seen since Oct. 27. … Philly went 0-for-4 on the power-play. … Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and forward Scott Laughton have each had their name mentioned in trade talks. Ristolainen played a game-high 23:43 and had eight shot attempts, including four on goal. Laughton played 18:33, with ice time at all strengths, and won 11 of the 21 faceoffs. … Fedotov finished with 25 saves on 27 shots. … Forward Garnet Hathaway missed his second straight game due to an upper-body injury suffered on a blindsided hit against Pittsburgh last week.

The Flyers welcome the Winnipeg Jets to the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday (7 p.m., NBCSP) in Philly’s last game before the NHL trade deadline.