Monday night’s road game in San Jose against the struggling Sharks was a must-win for Calgary. The Flames were in a last-ditch effort to catch the Minnesota Wild in the race for a playoff berth.
The Sharks dominated early but Calgary’s netminder Dustin Wolf, a Gilroy native who grew up in Morgan Hill, made many highlight-reel stops to keep his team in the game. They trailed just 1-0 after two periods. The Flames then erupted for three goals in the final period to capture a season-saving 3-2 victory, keeping them in the playoff race.
Wolf finished with 29 saves and was named the game’s number one star, in the hockey tradition of naming three stars of every contest.
After one period, the shot totals were 18-8 for San Jose. After two periods, San Jose led 1-0, with Wolf having stopped 25 of 26 shots at that juncture. Calgary players and head coach Ryan Huska bemoaned the team’s slow start.
“Dustin was the reason we were still in the game,” Huska said. “In the third period, we played with a different swagger.”
In the final 20 minutes, Calgary came through. Adam Klapka scored on a rebound at 8:12, capping a 2-on-1 rush with Nazem Kadri. They took a 2-1 lead at 11:00 as Morgan Frost’s power-play shot caromed off Jonathan Huberdeau for a goal.
Calgary added another as rookie Matt Coronato scored an unassisted goal at 15:30. San Jose pulled their goalie and took advantage of a late Calgary penalty to play 6-on-4 in the final minutes. Sharks rookie Will Smith tallied his second of the night in the late going, but Calgary prevailed.
“He (Wolf) saved our game today, to be honest,” Klapka said. “He made some (Dominik) Hasek saves out there. He’s unbelievable and he’s showing he can be the Rookie of the Year.”
Wolf made stops on many types of plays, exhibiting his vision and anticipation, along with great mechanics. He directed shots into the corner and out of danger time and time again.
In the second period, he made some elite athletic saves during scramble sessions around the net. Four saves on the night came on grade-A chances from San Jose’s star rookie Macklin Celebrini.
“Wolfie played great to keep us in the game and then we got a couple big third-period goals,” Frost said. “He’s special, man. He keeps us in a lot of games and makes some unbelievable saves. He is so calm back there. He makes you feel like you can always come back in a game because he’s going to hold the fort.”
Calgary improved to 37-27-13 and 87 points, with five games remaining in the regular season. The Flames are trying to catch Minnesota for the last playoff slot. The Wild are 42-29-7 for 91 points, with four games left on their schedule. Of note is that Calgary hosts Minnesota on April 11.
Wolf raised his personal record to 26-16-7. His Goals Against Average is 2.62 and his Save Percentage is .911, ninth-best in the NHL.
“Our start (to the game) was not pretty,” Wolf said. “We’re fighting for our lives every day right now. This was a great start to our road trip. I felt good. They threw a lot of pucks onto the net early and it kinda got me into a groove. They were hemming us in. They were giving it to us. We started to come on in the second period.”
The crowd was announced as 12,654 and included a fair number of red-clad Calgary fans.
“Anytime we are back in San Jose, it’s a fun time,” said Wolf, who attended Sharks games with his parents during his time in Morgan Hill. “I’ll always have family that comes to games here. It adds a little oomph to your game. In the state of California as a whole, I want to play well.”
Wolf moved to southern California at age 10 to further his hockey career. His parents now live in Seattle but he has relatives in Morgan Hill. He most recently visited during the recent NHL season break for the Four Nations Tournament in February.
“I got two days in Morgan Hill during the Four Nations break,” Wolf said. “I got to see my grandmother. We went down to Pebble Beach. It’s so beautiful there and I like to take my grandmother there.”
Wolf identifies with his South County roots. In a recent interview with espn.com, he was asked about the smell of garlic when one drives through Gilroy.
“That’s the smell of home,” Wolf replied.
After the post-game press interviews, Wolf went for a short visit with the Morgan Hill contingent of Flames/Wolf fans. Shortly thereafter, the Calgary team flew down to Anaheim for Wednesday night’s game.
It will be another night of “desperation.” Huska vows to get his team off to a faster start. On Monday, they found a way to win. It came with another superb game by Wolf, showing why in his first full NHL season, he is not only a top candidate for Rookie of the Year, but one of the best goalies in the league.
With the skaters doing their part to complement goalies Wolf and backup Dan Vladar, the Flames look to finish strong. After the game against the Ducks on April 9, they return home to play against Minnesota, San Jose and Las Vegas. The team travels to Los Angeles for the regular-season finale on April 17.
