CALGARY — Make it two straight superb starts to begin the season for Dustin Wolf.
The 23-year-old goaltender made 31 saves on Tuesday night to backstop the Calgary Flames to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I've felt good in my two starts and there's been a lot of positives to build on for my game, especially from last year, I thought I've taken quite a few big strides,” said Wolf.
“To come to the rink and feel good and help the team win games, that's what I want to do.”
With the trade of veteran Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils in the summer, that's left Calgary's crease in the hands of Wolf, entering his first full NHL season, and 27-year-old Dan Vladar. Two wins from both of them has helped Calgary tie its fastest start in franchise history at 4-0-0, which they've only accomplished twice previously — 1993-94 and 2009-10.
“Both goalies have been great,” said defenceman Rasmus Andersson. “It's nice to see the competition back there. Both of them have been playing awesome, and I think we've done an OK job in front of them, too.”
Make that better than “OK” according to Wolf.
“Every single one of our D-men has been terrific,” said Wolf. “There were guys throughout the game that were sacrificing their bodies and obviously in tight games like that, you need sacrifices like that to win.”
Wolf's better stops came four minutes into the first period when he flashed his trapper to snag a dangerous wrist shot off the stick of Connor Bedard and keep the game scoreless.
“I was seeing it well from early on,” said the native of Gilroy, Calif. “There's extra motivation when you see a guy like Bedard over there, who's the next big thing. It's rewarding to go out there and shut him down.”
Bedard finished with a game-high seven shots, matching his combined shot total over the season's first three games.
“The pre-scout on him is his shot is elite, right? He's very good at pulling it in and changing the angle, and that's exactly what he did,” said Wolf. “I was just fortunate to be in the right spot.”
On the season, Wolf has stopped 68 of 72 shots for a .944 save percentage.
“The objective is to go out there and stop as many shots as you can,” said Wolf. “It doesn't matter who's shooting them, but it's certainly pretty cool when you can put a zero up for that guy in the game. He's going to score a heck of a lot of goals in this league.”
Seeing Wolf step up against one of the NHL's rising stars is no surprise to coach Ryan Huska.
“He was the best guy in junior. He was the best guy in the American (Hockey) League. It's the way he's wired. So if he gets a chance to play against the best players and shut them out, then I think he's pretty geared to do that.”
Despite gaudy numbers in junior, Wolf nearly went undrafted due to his height, which is listed as 6-foot-0. Calgary selected the former Everett (WHL) junior in the seventh round (214th overall) of the 2019 NHL entry draft.
What he lacks in size he makes up for it in his other attributes.
“He's always there,” said Matt Coronato, who scored twice. “When you think you maybe got an empty net on a rebound or something, he's there. He's always flying around.”
A teammate of Wolf's in the AHL last season and now in the NHL, Coronato says he's not surprised to see Wolf translate his success in the minors to the NHL.
“He's so special, so good, fun to watch. He definitely kept us in it tonight.”
Chicago had several chances to break open a 1-1 tie as they outshot the home side 7-1 to begin the second period, but couldn't beat Wolf. Included in his string of pivotal stops was Joey Anderson thwarted on a short-handed breakaway and a pad stop off Teuvo Teravainen's one-timer.
“A little bit of a tough stretch (in the second), but I thought we kept the momentum because of those saves and just all game, you feel confident, and he's so steady,” said Coronato.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2024.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press