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CALGARY – Ryan Huska was hot.

You can bet Dan Vladar was even hotter, so he took a cold shower before speaking to the media.

The Calgary Flames felt they had just fallen victim to a controversial decision by the NHL’s Situation Room on Thursday night, allowing a controversial overtime goal by St. Louis to stand.

On his knees after making a save on a Rob Thomas chance, Vladar’s outstretched leg was put into the net by Colton Parayko’s stick as he outwitted Yegor Sharangovich to slam home a rebound just inches away of the goal line.

A lengthy investigation initiated by Toronto’s war room found that “no goaltender intervention occurred when (Parayko) made a play on a loose puck in the crease prior to his goal.”

In accordance with Rule 69.7, “in a rebound situation, or when a goaltender and offensive player(s) simultaneously attempt to play a loose puck, either inside or outside the line, incidental contact is permitted, and any goal scored as consequence thereof shall be permitted.”

In a post-match interview with Sportsnet’s Ryan Leslie, Parayko certainly didn’t seem convinced one way or another that the goal should have counted.

“At game speed, I saw the puck come loose and I tried to get my stick on it and get the puck into the net,” said Parayko, who scored the decisive goal in a 4-3 win a day after being named to Team Canada.

“I honestly don’t know at that moment if I hit him in the pad or what.

“I just drift over the net and try to get the puck.

“I hope I touched the puck. Well, I don’t know, but in the end it worked out.”

That’s twice in just over a week that the Flames felt like they had to work in overtime, dating back to a costly penalty in Detroit last Wednesday when the team felt a too many men penalty was called too late and largely because of a vocal response from the Wings bench. .

“It’s frustrating to be completely honest with you,” said the normally mild-mannered Huska, her tone noticeably gravelly.

“If you want to call it that, that’s fine, but the referees can come and explain it.

“They just skate themselves off the ice.

“For me, that’s the part that bothers me a little bit: why was it a good cause?

“The way I see it, Danny made a save and he would have kept it out if his path hadn’t been pressed.”

Many others wearing Flames jerseys in the Dome saw it the same way, leading to a lot of cheering after the referee announced it was a “good goal.”

As the referees skated away, an irate Vladar passed them with some thoughts he was reluctant to share with the media.

“I don’t want to talk about it, obviously emotions play a role, but nothing disrespectful,” he said, clearly taught by the Flames staff not to say anything he would regret in the morning.

“I just saw it on the Jumbotron, so I’ll have to watch it again and then talk to Chipsy (video coach Jamie Pringle). In my opinion, he’s the best in the league at that, so whatever he says, I believe it. Of course I respect the call and it is what it is.”

Did he feel the stick in his path, pushing him into the net?

“I mean, I just felt like I had to make one more save than Jordan Binnington and I didn’t, so they won,” he said diplomatically.

“I think we deserved to win today. The boys played a very good match for me. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

While no one is bound to pick a mountain out of the molehill about the league’s decision, you can bet that half the spectators thought it was interference. The other half will quote the competition rule and suggest that if incidental contact is allowed in that case, the goal should be allowed.

Only 27 games in a long season, it’s not worth losing sleep over.

The Flames fought back from a 2-0 deficit in the first period to pick up a point in a game in which they defeated the Blues 39-24.

Wrangler’s call Jakob Pelletier’s first NHL goal since last March kickstarted the comeback with an emotional Celly that said a lot about how difficult it has been for him since being exposed to waivers to open the season.

A Matt Coronato snipe on the power play tied things up early in the second before Pavel Buchnevich and MacKenzie Weegar traded goals in the third period.

The Flames were the better team, but a performance from Binnington that Canadian hockey fans hope to see in February, combined with yet another penalty kill night, played a role in the Flames’ first home loss in seven games.

“I don’t think it will affect us because I think we played a great five-on-five game,” said Weegar, whose club gave up a power-play goal by Zack Bolduc to open the night.

“I don’t think the puck is going in unless (Parayko) presses the pad. I thought it was pretty obvious. That’s really all I have to say about it. Moving on – we got three out of four (points) in our little homestand, and our big focus is on going out here and getting some wins.

Only Nashville has fewer wins than the Flames’ three in 13 road games, with stops in the big tests in Dallas and Nashville.