• It seemed a little difficult to get a lot of flow on either side of the benches. The referee’s whistle was busy. Halfway through the game, 37 faceoffs had already taken place.

• Jacob Markstrom returned to the Saddledome for the first time since he was traded this summer from the Glames to the Devils. Markstrom spent four seasons playing in Calgary, ranks fifth all-time in games played and wins for a Flames goaltender. He played 213 games with Calgary with 105 wins, 78 losses and 25 overtime losses.

“I wanted to come out of here with two points, but it is what it is,” Markstrom said after the loss.

He made 29 saves on 31 shots, including four on the power play and one on the penalty kill.

• Two of the game’s best chances came off the stick of Jack Hughes, once on a breakaway, stopped by Vladar, just after Calgary’s Yegor Sharangovich fired the puck at Markstrom’s far post. The second time, in the second period, Hughes, with a Calgary Flame on his tail, fired a shot past Vladar and through his pads, but the puck ultimately went over the net.

• Dawson Mercer had a few moments of frustration following missed opportunities and returned to the bench, slamming his stick and closing the bench door. He went to sit in his seat next to Jack Hughes, who would be seen taking a second to speak and calm his teammate down, and Mercer was shaking his head in disappointment with himself.

• There were several familiar faces for the Devils on the other side of the ice. For Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt, who are the longest-tenured Devils on the roster, they played with four different members of the Flames who were in the lineup tonight, with Kevin Bahl being the newest. Yegor Sharangovich, Blake Coleman and Kevin Rooney also suited up for Calgary.