Daniil Miromanov broke a scoreless tie in the third period and goaltender Dustin Wolf posted his first career shutout as the host Calgary Flames claimed a 2-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday.
Wolf, who came within a couple of minutes of posting a goose egg in his last outing, made 29 saves to earn his milestone victory.
Blake Coleman also scored for Calgary, which has only one regulation loss in its last six games.
Goalie Juuse Saros stopped 31 shots for the Predators, who have only one win in their last seven games.
Miromanov finally opened the scoring at 6:38 of the third period with his first goal of the season. After Nazem Kadri cleanly won an offensive-zone faceoff to the point, Miromanov headed down the right wing for a pass from MacKenzie Weegar, after which he lifted a top-shelf shot to snap a 22-game goal-scoring drought.
Coleman secured the victory by potting an empty-net goal with 69 seconds remaining in regulation, his fourth tally of the campaign.
The low-scoring affair was between a pair of clubs who are struggling offensively, but the goaltenders did a strong job of keeping the puck out of the nets.
Saros was especially key when he denied Matt Coronato late in the second period. He denied Coleman during a two-man breakaway shortly after Calgary opened the scoring.
Wolf was the busier of the two twine-minders in terms of high-danger chances. The rookie NHLer who twice was named the AHL’s top puck-stopper showed he was up to the challenge from the start. In the first period, he robbed Steven Stamkos and then both Cole Smith and Gustav Nyquist on bang-bang chances in the middle of the opening frame. Wolf also blanked Jonathan Marchessault midway through the second period.
The Flames won despite failing to convert on a 117-second five-on-three advantage late in the second period, during which they managed only a single shot on net. Calgary, which went into the affair having scored only two power-play goals in the previous 12 outings, was unable to score during four total advantages during the game.
–Field Level Media
