CALGARY, Alberta — The Red Wings scored first and found ways to lead the game again and again. Their efforts against one of the best teams in the NHL came up short as the Calgary Flames, who sit in second place in the NHL, rallied to win, 6-4 , Friday at Scotiabank Saddledome. It was a bitter end to a game that saw Dylan Larkin score twice to hit 20 goals on the season. The Wings limited the Flames’ top line, Anthony Mantha converted on a power play and Mike Green and Larkin scored go-ahead goals in the third period. But the Flames took their first lead of the game with four minutes to go, and secured the victory with an empty net goal. When the teams met Jan. 2 in Detroit, the Flames’ top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm combined for three goals and seven assists. This night they had three points. Larkin tested Calgary goalie Mike Smith with a wrist shot in the opening minute. Wings goalie Jimmy Howard had his hands full holding off the Flames over the first 10 minutes. One of his best saves was denying a point-point-blank chance from Matthew Tkachuk. During the Wings’ first power play, Smith stopped an Andreas Athanasiou slap shot and smothered a tip-in attempt by Thomas Vanek. The Wings gained momentum during the stretch, and went on another man advantage at 17:36. That grew to a two-man advantage when T.J. Brodie high-sticked Thomas Vanek. Mantha responded with a goal, firing a wrist shot from the top of the left circle to score at 19:06. The Wings had three shots when their first power play began (to nine by the Flames) but by the end of the period, shots were 10-9 to Calgary. The Flames pushed back hard in the second period. There was one shift they had the puck in Detroit’s end the entire time, with the Wings’ fourth line unable to clear the puck. Green grew frustrated enough to earn a cross-checking call. The Wings had a good kill going for most of the stretch, but with 13 seconds on the penalty clock, Sam Bennett pounced on loose puck and made it 1-1. Larkin fired a shot through traffic to restore the Wings’ lead, but the Flames top line answered within two minutes, with Monahan’s 26th goal of the season. Shots after the second period were 24-21 to Calgary. The Wings earned a fourth power play in the opening minute of the third period when Tkachuk upended Larkin. They were unable to get a shot on Smith during that stretch, but Larkin zig-zagged to the net on his next shift and tried a short wrist shot. The Wings took the lead for a third time at 4:16 when Vanek fed the puck to Green, who beat Smith with a backhand for a 3-2 lead. That was part of a 6-1 shot barrage. Larkin was penalized for interference on Gaudreau. Howard made a couple stops on Tkachuk, but was beat on a tip-in by James Neal. Larkin scored again at 9:35 to make it 4-3. The Wings went on a power play with 6:28 to play in regulation, but a turnover by Vanek led to Mark Giordano scoring shorthanded. Bennett scored with 3:54 to go in regulation for the Flames’ first lead. Brodie scored an empty net goal with 50 seconds to play. Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames .