BUFFALO – For a while in Wednesday’s wretched 6-2 loss to the hapless Calgary Flames, it felt like the Sabres would avoid disaster and defeat the NHL’s worst team.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, they raced back and tied the game late in the second before the crowd of 15,213 fans in KeyBank Center.

Against the league’s lowest-scoring team that was playing its backup goalie a night after losing by three goals in Chicago, the Sabres simply had to win the third period.

Instead, in an utterly embarrassing display, the Sabres imploded against the Flames, who had won five games all season, allowing four goals in the third period.

The Flames entered the night averaging just 2.1 goals per game. They hadn’t scored six in one contest all season.

Clearly, the Sabres, fresh off victories over the Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers, took things too casually against the Flames.

“We didn’t control things that were within our control tonight, and that’s puck battles and intensity,” said Sabres center Tage Thompson, whose one-timer from the point tied the game in the second period and extended his goal streak to four contests. “I just think we went into every one-on-one battle just casual, just soft.”

Coach Lindy Ruff said the Sabres got outworked early and “some of the guys wanted it easy.”

“Until we got directed more north in the second period, we weren’t really in the game,” he said.

Thompson called that awful opening period – the Sabres trailed 2-0 barely 12 minutes in – “way too casual.”

“I thought they were hungrier for loose pucks and flat out won more puck battles,” he said. “I thought all game we were pretty sloppy with the puck when we did have it, especially though the neutral zone, trying to force stuff and just fed their transition.”

How can one last-place team take another last-place team so lightly?

While the Sabres have two more wins and stand much closer to a playoff spot than the Flames, they’re also in last place in their conference.

“I think we get a little too high on ourselves after a couple of wins,” Thompson said. “We think we’re better than we are instead of remembering what got us those wins. I thought looking back at the other game against Edmonton, I thought we were really hard to play against, and I thought tonight we were really easy, really light on the puck.”

The Sabres, of course, have often gotten too high on themselves for years. After some nice wins, they come crashing down.

Why can’t they shake that?

“I think with anything, you feel good about yourself,” Thompson said. “You forget the habits and the details that got you the results. I think sometimes that gets lost when you look at results. I mean, even when you lose, if you’re playing the right way and you lose, you try to change things. I think you’ve just got to stick with the game of hockey.

“I think it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you can win on any given night, you can lose on any given night, it doesn’t matter who you line up across. So I think it’s just a lack of respect for the game of hockey thinking you’re just going to go out there casual and the puck’s just going to find you. It’s not the case.”

If the Sabres had beaten Calgary and St. Louis Blues, who limped into town Nov. 6 in worse shape than the Flames and won 3-0, they would have 22 points, a total that would have them tied for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.

Joel Farabee scored in the first and third periods for the Flames. Rasmus Andersson opened the scoring at 5:58. Morgan Frost tallied the go-ahead goal 2:02 into the third period.

Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato also scored for the Flames.

They scored five of their goals around Sabres goalie Colten Ellis, who made 29 saves.

“I know the breakaway (goal by Farabee), but the other goals are kind of gritty ones around the net, said defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who scored the Sabres’ first goal. “I think that’s a pretty good indication of our game versus their game.”

Samuelsson’s goal, his fourth in 18 games this season, tied the career high he set in 62 outings last year.

With the Sabres trailing 2-0 in the first period, Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin appeared to score. But the Flames called their timeout and challenged for goalie interference.

After a review, officials ruled Thompson, who had minimal contact with Devin Cooley interfered. Cooley was set for the shot when Dahlin beat him.

“I thought it was a horrible call,” Thompson said. “They called it a goal on the ice. I think there’s minimal contact there, if any, and I think he’s square to the shot for a good two, three seconds.”