Wolf shuts door on Bedard as Flames keep perfect record intact

CALGARY — Shortly after taking a bow as the game’s first star, Dustin Wolf was informed seven of his 31 saves came against Connor Bedard.

Yes, the California kid is truly starting to make his mark in the big leagues.

“I think there’s extra motivation when you see a guy like Bedard over there who’s the next big thing,” said the Flames netminder following a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

“It’s rewarding to go out there and shut him down.

“The objective is to go out there and stop as many shots as you can. It doesn’t matter who is shooting them. But it’s certainly pretty cool when you can put a zero up for that guy.

“You know he’s going to score a heck of a lot of goals in this league.”

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Wolf’s second win in as many starts this season extends his winning streak from last year to six games.

In two home starts this year he has stopped 68 of 72 shots, demonstrating the type of steadiness needed if the Flames were to do exactly what they are doing: stunning the league.

Asked how his club has been able to open the season with a 4-0 record for just the third time in franchise history, Ryan Huska’s answer started with the one thing people worried most about this year: the netminders.

“Well, we’ve had goaltending, that’s the start for us,” began the Flames coach, whose club sits atop the Pacific Division and leads the league with 19 goals and a plus-nine goal differential.

“We’ve had some timely goals that we’ve been able to score, and I think guys are committed to playing the right way away from the puck, so we’ve become a harder team to play against.”

They’ve done it with grit, they’ve done it by committee and they’ve done it with a resolve that has seen them dig out of a few ugly holes.

But none of it would have been possible without Wolf and Dan Vladar holding the fort as efficiently as they have.

On Tuesday, Bedard and the Blackhawks wasted no time testing the 23-year-old Wolf, prompting him to flash his glove for one of his niftiest stops of the night on No. 98 himself.

“The pre-scout on him is his shot is elite, right?” said Wolf.

“He’s really good at pulling it in and changing the angle and that’s exactly what he did, and I was just fortunate to be in the right spot. I feel great, I was seeing it well from early on.”

The Hawks provided plenty of traffic, and a steady stream of shots, but Wolf made it all look so easy, as is his way when the AHL hotshot is positionally sound.

“I’ve felt good my two starts,” said Wolf, who has a 2.02 goals-against average and .944 save percentage.

“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. At the end of the day we’re trying to get wins and we’re off to a good start.”

Vladar is at a 2.96 goals-against average and .880 save percentage, with an identical 2-0 record compiled entirely on the road.

Huska has demanded his team be more responsible defensively, which has certainly helped cut down on the odd-man rushes and high-danger chances his club afforded the opposition last season.

For proof of just how far his lineup has come in that regard, look no further than Matt Coronato, who balanced being Tuesday’s scoring hero while also being out on the ice for the final minute of a one-goal game.

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Scoring the game-opener in the first as part of a yeoman’s shift pieced together by the team’s stellar fourth line, he was then tapped to join Justin Kirkland and Ryan Lomberg on the ice when the Hawks pulled their goalie.

After spending most of last year in the minors, tasked with learning to be more responsible in his own end, Coronato outraced Bedard to score the empty-net clincher in the final minute.

Before that came a steady stream of painful blocked shots from his teammates that epitomized the sacrifice being made for this team early in the season.

“It’s pretty motivating,” said Wolf of the 21 blocks that sandwiched Andrei Kuzmenko’s power play winner midway through the night.

“I do it with gear on, but they do it with a whole lot of nothing.

“There are guys sacrificing their bodies, and in a tight game like that you need sacrifices like that to win.”

It has been 15 years since the Flames won their first four games of the season, and the team’s depth has had plenty to do with it.

Eleven Flames have scored goals, eight players have a point per game, Rasmus Andersson leads all NHL blueliners with six points and only one player on the roster (Blake Coleman of all people) is a minus player so far.

This is a group effort from a bunch of lads playing with house money.

But don’t be fooled.

Without the netminding they’ve had, none of it is possible.


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