Dustin Wolf recorded his first shutout of the season, backstopping the host Calgary Flames to a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
Blake Coleman and Sam Honzek scored for the Flames, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Wolf made 16 saves to record his fourth career shutout.
Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov delivered a sparkling 34-save performance, but it was not enough to extend his team’s four-game winning streak. San Jose had earned points in seven consecutive outings (6-0-1).
Calgary has now won the past seven meetings, and 12 of 13 clashes, between the Pacific Division clubs.
It was a well-earned victory for Calgary, which still remains at the bottom of the league standings.
The Flames dominated the first period while outshooting the visitors by a 13-1 count, and Calgary was finally rewarded when Coleman opened the scoring at 5:46 of the second period.
Coleman took advantage of a glaring miscommunication between San Jose’s Philipp Kurashev and Sam Dickinson, stealing the puck just inside the offensive blue line and ripping a high shot home.
Askarov did an incredible job of keeping his team one shot away from pulling even while his club looked much like the bottom feeders they have been in past seasons. His biggest stop came when Morgan Frost unloaded a one-timer on a power play early in the third period.
However, Wolf was more than equal to the task in the third period, in which he made 10 saves.
Wolf, who now boasts an 8-1-0 career record versus San Jose, the team he cheered for while growing up in Northern California, loomed large while he denied rising star Macklin Celebrini on a couple of chances during a flurry. He also stopped Tyler Toffoli on a partial breakaway late in the final frame.
Honzek’s empty-net goal with 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation sealed the victory.
–Field Level Media
