CALGARY — After years of closely following the career of Juuse Saros, Calgary Flames rookie Dustin Wolf faced him for the first time on Friday and collected his first shutout.
Wolf made 29 stops to backstop the Flames to a 2-0 victory over the Nashville Predators in a battle of the NHL's two smallest goalies.
“He's a heck of a goaltender over there," said Wolf. "He's been a fun guy to watch over the last few years, and obviously I'm still going to keep a pretty close eye on him.
"He's certainly one of the best in the league and there's definitely things I can continue to take from him.”
Saros, 29, was three seasons into his Nashville career when Calgary selected Wolf in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL draft.
In an era of tall, lanky goalies, the six-foot Wolf was four picks away from going undrafted despite stellar junior numbers with WHL Everett. At 166 pounds, he's the lightest goaltender in the league.
But just like the five-foot-11 Saros, the 23-year-old Wolf is quickly quieting any skeptics.
“He's lights out right now. I'm happy for Wolfie,” said Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar. “Big shutout for him. First one, many more to come for him, for sure.”
Wolf improved to 6-2-1 on the season with a .921 save percentage that ranks sixth among goalies with at least five starts.
“When he is on, he beats the play a lot, so he's in position, and he makes hard saves look relatively easy,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska. “Then it's the rebound control. A lot of times, he seems to know where he's putting them when he's on.
“But I think his biggest strength is how he reads the play. He arrives a lot of times on his feet when most goaltenders would be sliding over to make a save.”
Weegar was asked when he realized that Wolf was legit.
“Right when I got here," he said. "He's quick in the net. He sees the puck well, he moves the puck well. He's got a lot of confidence in his game."
Wolf posted a 97-32-10 record across three seasons in the AHL. When Calgary traded away veteran Jacob Markstrom last summer, that opened a spot for Wolf to be in the NHL full-time, partnering with Dan Vladar.
In his last start against Los Angeles, Wolf lost a shutout bid on a video review with less than four minutes to go. He wasn't going to be denied on this night.
“It feels good. The monkey's off the back now,” said Wolf.
Daniil Miromanov scored his first goal of the season at 6:38 of the third period. Blake Coleman iced it with an empty-netter with 69 seconds left.
“It was a little bit easier not to think about it as it was such a tight game,” said Wolf. “When you're up a couple, you might start putting in the back of your mind that you want it, but the team stuck with it, and I'm just glad we got the win.”
At the opposite end, Saros said he was happy to see Wolf having success.
"I like his game. He had big saves today,” Saros said. “I remember when I saw him for the first time playing (at the) world juniors. I've always liked how he plays the game."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press