The Flames have three outings remaining in this six-game Saddledome run and know they must run the table in it

Three games remain before the Calgary Flames begin their all-star break.

Check that, three home games remain.

On the heels of a disappointing 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night, the Flames are well aware the task at hand to have their best chance at remaining in the playoff fight.

Drum up victories over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets two nights later and the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.

Winning out the remainder of their six-game homestand is not just a goal; It’s a necessity.

“Absolutely,” defenceman MacKenzie Weegar said. “There’s no time for us to keep losing. We’ve got to get as many wins as we can from here to the end of the season. It’s going to be a tight race.”

The Flames (21-20-5) have myriad issues, but they all add up to one thing: an inability to go on a winning streak. Nobody expects them to go on a record-setting 13-game run like the Oilers, but keeping their playoff hopes alive requires better than three- or four-game runs.

More importantly, one loss can not become two or three or four.

Floundering around the NHL’s version of .500 is nowhere near good enough, with at least 92 points going to be necessary to make the Stanley Cup tournament.

Blake Coleman did not hide his disappointment about losing to the Oilers yet again, but his exasperation went deeper.

“It’s frustrating losing in general. It doesn’t matter the opponent,” he said. “We keep giving ourselves these great opportunities to make a push and go on these runs and then we take two steps back. It’s getting down to where we can’t have these setbacks.”

The past two games provided a chance for the Flames to keep in check a couple of high-octane clubs in the Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs. They failed.

The next trio, however, are all winnable games, with the Blues one point back of the Flames in the standings, while the Blue Jackets and Blackhawks are bottom feeders already preparing for a high lottery pick.

Sure, the Flames are only four points off the pace of the Nashville Predators, who hold the second wild-card position, and have 36 games remaining, but making up ground requires going on a lengthy spree.

“We’ve dropped two. That’s tough, especially with this wild-card race, there’s a lot of teams right now,” Weegar said. “But we’ve done a good job of moving forward. Now we look at another team coming here, we need the two points and getting back in the win column.”