Wolf happy with Flames’ inspired start in the 3-1 win over Kings – Hockey

CALGARY — After doing it the hard way lately with comeback after comeback, the Calgary Flames finally got off to a better start Monday and were rightly rewarded.

Second-period goals 36 seconds apart from Mikael Backlund and Jonathan Huberdeau broke open a scoreless game as the Flames defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-1.

“That was a full 60 minutes from our group and that’s what we can expect from ourselves,” said rookie goalkeeper Dustin Wolf, who made 29 stops to improve to 5-2-1. “When we play like this, we give ourselves a chance to win every night.”

Calgary (8-5-3) has points in four straight games (2-0-2), moving within two points of the Pacific-leading Kings (9-5-3).

Going into Monday, only the San Jose Sharks (-14) had a worst first-period goal difference than Calgary (-9), but the home side made a much better opening twenty minutes this evening, beating the visitors 10-7 and which presents some dangerous opportunities.

While the first twenty minutes ended scoreless, the Flames rode that aggressive momentum into the second.

“We were talking about ‘let’s try to score the first goal of the night’ and play with the lead,” said Connor Zary, who had three of his game-high five shots in that opening period, while also adding a shot sent through the crossbar. .

“It was very good for us to get that full 60. That was a lot like how we started the year.”

Leading from start to finish was a different script for the Flames, who had to come from behind in all three games during their road trip.

On Saturday in Buffalo, they fell behind 2-0 after one, but fought back with two in the third before losing in a shootout.

On Thursday in Boston, Calgary trailed 3-1 after two, but tied the score before going into overtime.

Last Tuesday in Montreal, the Flames trailed 2-1 in the final three minutes before pulling out a 3-2 victory.

“We talked a lot about our starts, especially on that road trip. We knew as a team that we started flat and had to climb back,” said Zary.

“We’ve obviously been good at that, playing from the back, but we really wanted to come out and get a start and get a lead.”

It was just past the middle of the second when Backlund’s unassisted goal broke the ice. The Flames captain pounced on a Kings giveaway that ended up in the slot and fired Darcy Kuemper into the top corner.

The next team set up Andrei Kuzmenko Huberdeau’s nifty pass for a breakaway and his team-leading sixth goal would ultimately be the match winner.

“I said this morning that we had to start on time and get everything taken care of, and we did that,” Huberdeau said. “If you do it over and over again, you get exhausted.”

At the time of Huberdeau’s goal, Calgary had a 20-10 advantage in shots.

“We were just simple,” Zary said. “We started from the first shift and started the preliminary inspection. I think that’s the big thing for us. That’s our game: keep it simple and get that going and play from there as soon as we get into the offensive zone.”

Wolf says Monday was the team’s formula for success.

“If we start like this, we will put ourselves in a good position to win the first period and get ready for the next one,” said the 23-year-old goalkeeper.

While Wolf lost the bid for his first NHL shutout with 2:31 to go in the third when Trevor Moore’s sharp hook shot, after video review, was ruled to have crossed the line before being cleared, he was picked as coach Ryan Huska. for his night work.

“I thought he was great tonight,” Huska said. “I was hoping that maybe he could have found a way to stay out because he deserved not to miss anything the way he played tonight.

“But it was a really good performance from him, and I thought he was a guy who gave our team a lot of confidence against him.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.