Saving Grace

WINNIPEG - Just call him Dustin Wow-lf!

Starting his second straight game, the Flames netminder was simply sensational, making an incredible 38 saves as the Flames beat the high-flying Jets 3-1 at Canada Life Centre in a Hockey Day in Canada tilt.

It topped the season-high 37 stops he had on Oct. 12 against the Flyers, and was two shy of his career high of 40 that came on April 4, 2024 against the same Jets.

Wolf improved to 16-7-2 on the year and gave an emphatic reminder on why he should be among the frontrunners for the Calder Trophy as the game’s top rookie.

He stopped a pair of breakaways in the game and stymied the league’s top offence, which came into the tilt with 164 goals scored.

He was especially good in the third when the Jets - tied with the Capitals atop the league standings with 65 points coming into the night, and sporting a sparkling 18-4-3 at home – poured it one, getting a goal to cut a 2-0 deficit in half and pressing hard for the equalizer with 16 total shots in the final frame.

Matt Coronato scored in the first period and Andrei Kuzmenko, who drew back into the lineup, tallied on the powerplay, his second goal of the campaign. Blake Coleman – who had a big night – got an empty-netter with 1:05 to go to seal the deal. Coleman had a team-leading three points in the victory.

Rookie Rory Kerins collected an assist on Kuzmenko’s goal and now has four points in four games since being called up from the AHL’s Wranglers.

It was a historic night for a pair of Flames, with Rasmus Andersson playing his 500^th career game, and Ryan Lomberg lacing ’em up for his 300^th tilt.

Kevin Bahl – who scored for the Flames against the Blues Tuesday night – had the first two shots of the game for Calgary, the first one the best chance when he snuck into the left faceoff circle and took a great feed from Kuzmenko who spun behind the net and wired it to the blueliner, but Comrie made a huge stop.

Nick Ehlers had a breakaway early in the frame after a Flames turnover, getting the puck and splitting the defence at a full gallop, however Wolf stayed with him to deny his offering.

Coronato opened the scoring at 13:32 after starting the play with a high backhand dump into the Jets zone. He circled around and then up high, firing a laser off a one-touch pass from Coleman along the boards, his shot going farside, bar down for this 11^th of the campaign.

Wolf finished the period with 12 saves, including a pair of big ones on a Jets powerplay.

The Flames had a powerplay to start the second (it was called with 2.4 seconds left in the opening stanza), and got a couple good shots but couldn’t beat Comrie.

On their second powerplay, though, they made good.

Kerins made a stellar pass right at the blueline to Coleman who gained the zone, then slung a long cross-ice pass to Kuzmenko who made no mistake, putting it off the bar and in on the shortside at 15:14.

Meanwhile, Wolf stopped all 11 shots he faced, the two best coming when he stopped Adam Lowry's breakaway with a left-pad kick save early in the frame, then denied Mark Scheifele’s backhand with 41 seconds left in the second to preserve the two-goal cushion going into the final frame.

Lowry tipped a point shot by Colin Miller that dropped and beat Wolf five-hole just 2:15 into the third.

Just past the six-minute mark, Coleman came about as close as you can to scoring without doing so, putting a shot off the near post behind Comrie, the puck then firing across off the other post, and down into the blue paint but never crossed the line.

Winnipeg got their second man-up of the game at 6:55 and Wolf robbed Kyle Connor, coming across his crease to deny his one-timer from in tight.

The Lineup:

FORWARDS

Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil

Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato

Rory Kerins - Yegor Sharangovich - Andrei Kuzmenko

Ryan Lomberg - Kevin Rooney - Jakob Pelletier

DEFENCE

Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson

MacKenzie Weegar - Daniil Miromanov

Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal

GOALTENDER

Dustin Wolf

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 22, WPG 39

Powerplay: CGY 1-2, WPG 0-2

Faceoffs: CGY 48.9%, WPG 51.1%

Blocked Shots: CGY 21, WPG 16

Hits: CGY 25, WPG 11

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 8, WPG 27

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 3, WPG 13

Up Next:

The Flames return to the Scotiabank Saddledome ice when they host the Sabres on Thursday night at 7 p.m. (Sportsnet West). CLICK FOR TICKETS