Flames' Wolf brimming with confidence amid hot start to season

As Dustin Wolf stood in front of the media, talking about the high of winning his third straight start this season, one of his teammates in the nearby gym let out a hearty Wolfie Howl that has become so popular with fans.

There’s been plenty to howl about of late.

Opening what will be his first full year in the NHL, the AHL superstar is a perfect 3-0 with a 2.30 goals-against average and dazzling .936 save percentage.  

He’s a big part of the best start in franchise history, putting the 5-0-1 Flames second in the league standings.    

Amidst a stretch that has seen the 23-year-old piece together wins in his last seven starts dating back to last season, there he was in Tuesday’s shootout, beating childhood idols in a skills competition.

On a night in which he had already turned back all five Sidney Crosby shots and one by Evgeni Malkin, he had to make one more against each for the Flames to clinch a 4-3 win.

“It’s pretty cool, those are two guys who have had a heck of a career, and are still going at it,” said Wolf, reflecting on his latest memorable night. 

“At the end of the day we’re trying to get wins and that’s what we accomplished tonight.”

The day before the meeting with Pittsburgh, Wolf spoke excitedly about a few chance encounters as an 11-year-old in Los Angeles when he was able to share the ice with Crosby as the superstar fought back from concussion issues.

Now here he was, needing a save on Sid in the second round of the shootout.

“I pride myself on shootout pre-scouts pre-game, so I had somewhat of an idea of what they wanted to do,” said Wolf, pausing slightly.

“They didn’t do what I thought they’d do.”

Crosby appeared to beat Wolf glove side, only to see the puck ring off the iron and out.

“I got a little love from my post there — I gave it a little kiss after,” he beamed.

“And when you get a chance to close it, and you’re able to do that, it feels good.”

Seconds after AHL revelation Justin Kirkland put the Flames up a goal in the sixth round of the shootout, Wolf looked up to see Malkin skating in with the game on the line.

“It’s pretty neat when you see 71 coming down on you,” said Wolf, who stuffed the 500-goal scorer’s attempt and punctuated it with an animated fist pump as the crowd roared.

“I knew if he tried to make a deke that I was going to have him.”

That sort of conviction stems from being a two-time WHL and AHL goalie of the year.

“I don’t think Wolfie has any shortage of confidence and that speaks volumes when you want to become an NHL veteran,” said Nazem Kadri, who tied the game in the final minute as Wolf watched from the bench.

“You have to have that confidence, even if you have an off night, being able to rebound. He made some incredible saves today and certainly gave us a chance.”

In all three of his wins Wolf has had to make at least 31 saves, which included a performance against Chicago last week in which he stopped all seven of Connor Bedard’s blasts.

As Kadri alluded to, the Penguins were the first team this season to beat Wolf with a bit of a softie, as Rickard Rakell caromed one in through Wolf’s legs from a bad angle. 

It didn’t faze him, as the diminutive Californian persevered through a see-saw battle against legends.

“Whether they were idols or not, I thought he did a good job tonight,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska.

“There were stretches when we were on our heels a bit and he made some saves to keep us in the game, allowing us to hang around. He’s done that since he’s been up with us this year. Vladdy (Dan Vladar) has done the same thing, so when you look at our record, you’ve got to look at our goaltenders for being a big reason as to why we’re sitting where we are.”

No question, especially since the duo with less than 100 NHL starts to their credit represented the team’s biggest question mark heading into the season.

They’ve turned out to be one of the team’s biggest strengths.

So far.

“I think the end of last season really helped me, playing a lot of games in the last month-and-a-half,” said Wolf, who was 7-7 last season.

“I felt really good in the pre-season and in camp. It’s obviously a battle with me and Vladdy, and it’s great to be that way because it pushes us to be better every day. If we’re doing our job and we’re helping the team win, that’s all you can ask.”

Wolf, like the rest of this year’s team, has been motivated by the naysayers.

“You see everybody ranking us pretty low, and we had a good pre-season, but there’s never been a disbelief in terms of how well we can do,” said the man who has stopped 103 of 110 shots he’s faced.

“That’s gone to show the first few games here. It's only the start, it’s a long season, but it’s good to feel that success early.

“It has been pretty cool to see what we’ve done the first six games, and we just need to keep our foot on the gas and keep going.”