DETROIT _ The Detroit Red Wings lost Alexey Marchenko to an upper body injury in the second period, then went on to drop their fourth game in a row.
The Wings tied the game at 2, at 7:59 of the third period on Anthony Mantha's first goal of the season.
But Mikael Backlund broke the tie at 12:14 of the third period and the Wings went on to lose, 3-2, to the Flames on Sunday at Joe Louis Arena.
Michael Froik found Backlund alone at the right post. Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard had no chance to react before Backlund knocked in his second goal of the season.
Mantha had fanned on his first scoring attempt in the third period, but seconds later fired a puck high short side over the shoulder of Flames goaltender Chad Johnson.
Flames defenseman Dougie Hamilton assisted on each of the Flames' goals.
Matt Stajan scored on a deflection for his first goal of the season to break the 1-1 tie at 2:31 of the third period.
The Flames tied the game at 1 at 3:40 of the second period on Garnet Hathaway's first NHL goal. Hathaway deflected in a one-timer from Hamilton.
Howard finished with 23 saves and again kept the Wings in the game with key saves.
The Flames ended the game on the power play, after Howard was whistled for delay of game at 18:13.
The Flames went on a power play midway through the second period, after Niklas Kronwall went off for hooking Hamilton at 9:33. Howard lost his stick during the power play, but took Danny DeKeyser's stick before making a save.
Howard kept the Wings ahead late in the period with a couple big saves. He stopped a slap shot by Deryk Engelland at 14:41 and another try by Frolik 9 seconds later. Howard denied Backlund with 1:33 left in the period to prevent the Flames from tying the game.
Tomas Tatar opened the scoring for the Wings at 8:06 of the first period. It was his third goal of the season and second in his last 14 games. After a shot by Justin Abdelkader, Tatar collected the rebound and swept it back without looking at the net. The puck slipped through traffic and past Flames goaltender Chad Johnson. It was Abdelkader's second assist of the season and fifth point in 17 games.
Tatar, in a first intermission interview with Fox Sports Detroit, credited Riley Sheahan's net-front presence.
"Without him the puck wouldn't go in because the goalie would have seen it," Tatar said. "He knew what he needed to do and I was fortunate to find the back of the net."
