Coach Ryan Huska calls Saturday's effort "our best game to date" of an 0-5 start to the Flames' season.

A loss is a loss is a loss.

This one felt different, though.

During the early days of the Calgary Flames’ (0-5-0) season, it has sometimes felt like every game had a little bit of deja vu. The decent starts, the inevitable stretch of dominance from the opposition, the lopsided final scoreline.

Saturday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks didn’t just feel different, it was different.

It was progress, even if the end result was a 4-2 defeat.

“I thought that was our best game to date, there were a lot of good things from individuals and our team,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “I think (the players) know they played well tonight. We’re in a stretch where there’s some bounces that I feel are going against us and some others that aren’t going for us.

“We didn’t earn those the first few games of the year, lately we’ve been playing better so eventually those are going to turn around for us and we’re going to start seeing some results.”

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game:

On his very first shift of the game, Kevin Bahl delivered a massive open ice hit on Sam Colangelo. 

It was the type of check that shakes the building and it set the tone for a more physically engaged evening for the Flames. That was intentional.

“I think you talk about compete, I just want to get the boys going and get everybody going,” Bahl explained. “Let’s get in this, let’s get a dub here. First shift, I was kind of looking for it.”

The Ducks didn’t love the hit, but it was absolutely clean and for a Flames team looking for any type of spark, it was welcomed with open arms by everybody on the bench.

“That was awesome. Huge hit, got everyone into the game right away,” said Flames winger Matt Coronato.

Huska loved it, too.

“Really, when you’re talking about Kevin Bahl, tonight he was excellent. To me, he was our best player,” Huska said. “He came over to us as a 6-foot-7 defenceman, he’s a legit top-pairing guy now. I’m really proud of the way he’s developed and brought his game along.”

After lighting it up in the pre-season, Aydar Suniev isn’t wasting any time making the most of his opportunity in the NHL.

Suniev, who was called up from the Wranglers on Wednesday, scored his first NHL goal in the second period against the Ducks. He slotted it in from a tight angle after a heads-up play from Matt Coronato to keep an odd-man rush alive.

“It’s so great, you dream about scoring your first goal and now here it is,” Suniev said. “I saw him with the puck and I was just trying to get open. He was coming behind the net and I saw that opening there.”

Suniev and Jonathan Castagna, who was also called up from the AHL this week, both seem to have provided a spark for these struggling Flames. There are going to be mistakes along the way, as there always are with young players, but they’ve made an impact in the two games they’ve played.

It’s hard to imagine either are heading back to the AHL any time soon.

Despite the more positive performance, the Flames still didn’t manage to put together a full 60 minutes. They struggled in the third period, going 0-for-3 on the power-play, allowing a shorthanded goal and getting outscored 2-0 over the final 20 minutes.

“We needed a goal and not to give one up,” Huska said when asked about the power-play. “When we had our first one, I think there were a lot of people trying to make it happen alone instead of just sticking with what they’ve done on prior power-plays and then it kind of snowballed.”