Three takeaways as Wolf backstops Flames to (maybe) their best ...
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Dustin Wolf was oh-so-close to his first NHL shutout.
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Millimetres, even.
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With 2:31 left in the third-period, though, a video review denied him of that milestone when it found that a shot off the Los Angeles Kings’ Trevor Moore’s stick had just barely squeezed over the goal-line before the Calgary Flames (8-5-3) shot-stopper batted it away.
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It was the only disappointment of the night for Wolf, who stood on his head to stop 28-of-29 shots and helped backstop his team to a 3-1 win over the Kings (9-5-3).
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“I thought he was awesome tonight,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “I was hoping that one he could maybe find a way to keep out because he deserved to not let anything get by him with the way he was playing tonight.
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“But really good effort from him and I thought he was a guy who gave our team a lot of confidence in front of him tonight.”
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Wolf was sensational on Monday night, coming up with big stops in big moments, including on two breakaways by Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar.
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He’s been rotating with Dan Vladar as the Flames’ starting goalie so far this season, and both seem to be elevating their games start-by-start. In eight games between the pipes, Wolf has a 2.84 goals-against-average and a .913 save-percentage. There can’t be a single complaint about those numbers.
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And Monday might have been his best game of the year, so far.
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“He’s special,” said Flames winger Connor Zary, who had a great night himself. “He’s so good, he’s so quick. Just the way he plays the game, the way he reads it is unbelievable.”
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Wolf was far from the only standout for the Flames against the Kings. Monday might have been their most well-rounded, 60-minute performance of the season.
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They dominated early and then goals scored 36 seconds apart by Mikael Backlund and Jonathan Huberdeau gave them a lead they’d never relinquish, with Kevin Rooney adding an empty-netter to seal the deal.
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Wolf, by the way, contributed on the offensive end, too. He delivered the puck to Andre Kuzmenko, who immediately fired a nasty pass down-ice to Huberdeau.
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It was Wolf’s first career NHL assist and it happened to come on the game-winner.
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“I didn’t even know that until Huby said ‘I think you let that (Kings goal) in so you could be part of the game winner’, “ Wolf said with a big grin. “Pretty cool, glad we can get that one.”
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Here’s three takeaways from Monday’s game:
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THAT’S MUCH BETTER
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The Flames were disappointed in the way they’ve been starting games lately and vowed to improve.
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They certainly did that.
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The Kings didn’t register a single shot on net in the first 11:07 of Monday’s game, and the Flames had a few nice opportunities in that stretch.
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They were the better team early and they carried the momentum they built in the first-period into the second frame, where they got the goals they deserved.
