Rasmus Andersson never hid his emotions, which became obvious after the team's last defeat on Tuesday.
“We're in a difficult situation and there's no sugarcoating it,” Andersson said after the 3-2 loss in St. Louis.
“It sucks where we are.
“We're in a hole and we're going to have to work hard to get out of it. We have to do it sooner rather than later.”
For many fans, the playoff ship has already sailed, and the Flames won't be there.
However, players can't say that, even if the Flames are dead last in the standings in goals, goal differential and power play efficiency.
The hole he's talking about includes the four-point gap between his Flames and the second-to-last team in the NHL, not to mention the gap between them and a playoff spot.
Tuesday's loss included digging another hole as the Flames fell behind 3-0 before a rare two-goal streak kept the game interesting down the stretch.
Alas, the team lost for the third time in a row and now returns home Thursday to face the San Jose Sharks and the league's brightest young player today, McLean Celebrini.
“I don't even know our record anymore,” Andersson said of his 4-12-2 team.
“It's frustrating and I don't want to stand here and repeat the same old cliches that we've done in the past, but now it's time to dig in.
“We should have (dig) here weeks ago because it's just unacceptable.
“We haven't played well enough at the moment – since the beginning of the year. It sucks.”
For those who remember back-to-back losses in St. Louis played a big role in Calgary's failure to make the playoffs last season, the Flames have now lost eight straight to the Blues.
Going scoreless 154-51, the Flames finally scored 14 minutes into the second period when Matt Coronato25 seconds after his fourth goal of the season, Andersson scored a goal that made the bench jump a little.
The Snake Flames came close to tying the game a couple of times, but despite firing 16 shots on Jordan Binnington in the third period (40 total), the Flames were unable to complete the comeback.
“We had some good chances in the final moments, but we weren't able to close out the game and get the goal we needed at that point,” head coach Ryan Haska said.
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The closest was Coronato, whose efforts to shake up his scoring rate saw him take 16 shots on goal in the team's previous two shutout losses.
He added six more team points on Tuesday, finally found the twine with a lethal shot inside the far post, and was the Flames' most notable player all evening.
“If you go a couple of games without scoring, it probably wears on them,” Huska said.
“But I think the most important thing is to stay true to how you should play the game.
“Matt is a great example of that. He's been shooting a ton of pucks the last three games and he was rewarded today. He'll continue to get rewarded if he keeps doing what he's been doing the last few games.”
“He's been a threat. He's doing the right things to put himself in position to get the puck back, and he's more competitive on and with the puck now, and that's why he's had some success.”
Coronato was of little consolation from the team's two-goal lead.
“It was good to see us fight in the second round, but it sucks when we can’t get all the way out,” said Coronato, whose team made 28 goalie saves. Dustin Wolf.
“Everyone here cares and everyone here doesn't like it. We need to turn things around. We're going to continue to play hard and we're going to find a way to get it and hopefully move on.”
