Calgary Flames takeaways: Offensive struggles piling up, special teams off-night, and more

The Calgary Flames were red hot to begin the 2024-25 NHL season, starting the campaign with five straight wins but have since cooled off considerably. They entered Wednesday night's game at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, their first-ever trip to the venue, looking to snap out of a three-game losing skid.

Instead, they left searching for answers after a fourth consecutive loss. The Utah Hockey Club earned a 5-1 victory, handing Calgary another frustrating setback and dropping them to 5-3-1 through nine games.

First-period tallies from Alexander Kerfoot and Barrett Hayton paced the scoring for Utah in the opening frame. Anthony Mantha broke a six-game scoreless drought by tallying in the second period, cutting Utah's lead in half with his third goal of the year.

However, Maveric Lamoureaux responded 17 seconds later, restoring Utah's two-goal lead. Later in the period, Mikhail Sergachev tallied his first goal of the season, putting the score out of reach for the Calgary Flames. First-year Utah captain Clayton Keller capped the scoring in the third period with his sixth goal of the season.

Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf was victimized five times on 28 shots, while Connor Ingram made 30 saves.

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Three biggest takeaways from Calgary Flames' loss to Utah Hockey Club

#3 Calgary's special teams struggle

The Calgary Flames had a pair of golden chances in the first period to secure themselves the game's first goal, only to fail on both power play opportunities. Ranked just past the middle of the pack with 17.9% efficiency, Calgary's power-play let them down against Utah.

Furthermore, Calgary's penalty killing didn't fare any better, as the Utah HC scored twice with Flames players in the box. It was a nightmare evening in terms of special teams for the Flames.

#2 The offense has dried up

Despite Mantha finding the scoresheet for the first time in six games, the early-season offense powering Calgary to victory has been missing. Thanks to their lone tally against Utah, the Flames have scored a grand total of one goal in their last 120 minutes of play.

#1 The Flames fail to seize momentum and build their way back into the game

After Mantha's goal cut Utah's lead to one, the Calgary Flames surrendered a back-breaking tally just 17 seconds later. The fact that Calgary failed to generate any momentum and instead gave it right back to Utah HC is the latest troubling symptom that has resulted in the Flames suffering four straight defeats.

They will attempt to right the ship when they next take on the New Jersey Devils on Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.