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Nobody is losing more games in the NHL than the Calgary Flames right now.

The only question, really, is how low can they go?

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The Flames’ 4-1 loss to the host Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night was nothing to get too upset about. The Kings had everything to play for and clinched a playoff spot with the win. The Flames are fully aware that they’ll kick off an early spring in exactly a week when they get their final regular season game out of the way.

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And combined with the Arizona Coyotes — can we call them the Salt Lake City Coyotes yet? Are there coyotes in Utah? — winning on Wednesday and the Ottawa Senators knocking off the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, the Flames now have three teams within two points of them in the overall standings.

Getting as few points as possible from their final four games could see those teams leapfrog the Calgary crew and the Flames improve their chances in the draft lottery.

That would be the best thing for the organization long-term. Acquiring the best young players possible in the draft clearly matters more than any points they can pick up in the standings in the next week. That’s not even a debate.

But it doesn’t make all the defeats any more frustrating for the guys in the locker-room.

They’re still competitors and all this losing stings.

Fortunately, at least there’s a quick turnaround this time and they can try to move past Thursday’s uninspiring loss to the Kings with a game against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. (8 p.m. MT, Sportsnet One/Sportsnet 960 the Fan).

“It’s nice, obviously on a back-to-back, it’s nice to turn the page,” Flames winger Jonathan Huberdeau told reporters in L.A. post-game. “We’ve got four games left, we’ve got to give it our all and just forget about tonight and be better tomorrow.

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“They’re a good team, they showed it tonight. I think we’ve gotta give a better effort to get a win or at least compete against a team like that. Just put this one in the garbage and get back to it tomorrow and be better.”

There’s only so much value in dissecting a game like the one the Flames played Thursday.

Head coach Ryan Huska said he thought they looked slow for the first two periods. The Kings can be very hard to score against when they get set up in their own zone, and the Flames just weren’t quick enough in transition to catch their opponents sleeping.

They did, to their credit, push to get back in the game in the third period. They were down 3-0 after 40 minutes but pulled back to within two after Huberdeau deflected a Daniil Miromanov shot past Cam Talbot.

It wasn’t enough, though. The Flames have now lost nine of their last 11 games. Their 2-8-0 record over their last 10 is the worst of any NHL team over that stretch.

That could change. Their schedule is kind over the final four games, with matchups against the lowly Coyotes, Ducks and San Jose Sharks, as well as the playoff-bound Vancouver Canucks.

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The Flames themselves want to win as many as possible. That’s what you want from the guys who actually play, even if everyone else knows that a few more losses wouldn’t be such a bad thing in the grand scheme of things.

“We’ve just got to regroup here, learn from our mistakes and keep going,” Miromanov said. “It’s a short turnaround, back at it tomorrow night in Anaheim. Just gotta learn what we’ve gotta do, keep moving forward here, last little stretch we’ve got to really dial it in here. “

ACROSS THE ICE

Blake Coleman was unavailable for the Flames on Thursday night. The team announced he was out day-to-day earlier in the morning … Miromanov took an absolutely wild penalty in the first period. He dropped his stick, caught the puck with two hands and then snapped it between his legs like a centre in football. It resulted in a power-play that led to a goal, so that’s not great, but it honestly made this reporter laugh. That’s got to count for something … Adrian Kempe did an awfully nice job getting under the Flames’ skin, especially in the first 40 minutes. It started when he pushed Brayden Pachal into goaltender Jacob Markstrom, which the Flames obviously weren’t thrilled about, but he proceeded to get himself in the middle of just about every other mix-up — and there were a few — for the first two periods.

daustin@postmedia.com

www.twitter.com/DannyAustin_9

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