PHILADELPHIA — The storylines were plentiful on Tuesday night.

Former Flyers Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost returned, and current Flyers Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier were facing their old pals. It was also a battle of Calder Trophy candidates, Matvei Michkov and Dustin Wolf.

And with the Flyers and Calgary Flames each fighting for a playoff spot, there were two big points at stake.

But after returning home after a two-game road trip, and with the NHL trade deadline looming, the result was a 6-3 loss for the Flyers. It snapped their five-game point streak.

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.

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 collected his first career multigoal game with a shot from the goal line that went off Ersson and in.

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.

Noah Cates got the Flyers 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 for his 14th goal of the season, establishing a new career high. The goal 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.

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.

But just as soon as the vibes were back, the Flames restored their two-goal lead. Eighteen seconds after Kuzmenko’s goal, Yegor Sharangovich beat Fedotov five-hole after the 6-foot-7 goalie couldn’t get set for a 4-2 Calgary lead. Fedotov made an initial save on Martin Pospisil’s shot but it fell down to Sharangovich and Fedotov didn’t have time to reposition himself or his paddle properly.

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, but rang multiple shots off the pipe. Travis Konecny hit the post with a slapshot from the right circle during a power-play and Sean Couturier hit metal with less than 5 minutes left in the period.

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 Weegar 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 with a flubbed shot that got past Wolf.

The Flyers had a late power play with Kuzmenko getting the best chance with a one-timer from the bumper. Matt Coronato scored a shorthanded empty-netter to seal the Flames win.

Breakaways

The Flyers welcomed Farabee and Frost back during the first television timeout and they received a big cheer from the fans.

Up next

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

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