In the building in which he watched his idol steal many games over the years, Dustin Wolf did his best Jonathan Quick impression Saturday night.
Turning aside 29 shots in what was clearly a player-of-the-game performance, the Northern California native upped his record against the Kings to 5-1 with a 3-2 win at Crypto.com Arena.
Wolf made 14 saves alone in the second period, when the tide could easily have turned in a game the Kings started to take over shortly after the Flames took a 1-0 lead.
In a five-minute span, Wolf tracked brilliantly across the crease – a trademark move of his – to stop Brandt Clarke as the cross-crease trailer; he smothered a deflection off Adrian Kempe’s skate to thwart a two-on-one; and also caught a piece of a Trevor Moore shot that came shortly after Wolf played the puck into harm’s way on a Calgary power play.
Joel Armia snapped Wolf’s shutout six minutes into the third when a Kings’ transition caught Zayne Parekh up ice, and saw the winger convert a two-on-one in alone.
Matvei Gridin’s sixth of the year, midway through the third, was key to ensuring Wolf was able to up his record to 4-2-1 in his last seven starts. A fine bounce-back from the 25-year-old who started the season 0-3.
Yegor Sharangovich appeared to have salted the game away with an empty-netter to put the Flames up 3-1 with just over a minute left. However, A Mats Zuccarello goal with 54 seconds remaining made for a tense finish for the Flames, who are now 3-5-1 on the road.
Gridin digs in
Last year it took Matvei Gridin 37 games to score six goals.
This year he did it in 20, scoring a go-ahead goal midway through the third period that came following a relentless forecheck by him and linemate Martin Pospisil.
With 12 points in 20 games, the 20-year-old winger isn’t leading the team in scoring as he predicted last spring, but he’s chipping in at both ends with a game that has earned the coach’s trust.
As elated as he was to score such a big goal, he did not cap the moment with The Griddy.
Klapka promotion pays off
As good as Adam Klapka has been over the last year as a fourth-line force, his game tends to get muted when he’s moved up in the lineup.
Not Saturday.
Elevated to the third line to face the Kings, Klapka was chiefly responsible for the Flames’ second-period goal.
Klapka’s pressure and hit on Cody Ceci at the L.A. blue line prompted the defenceman to cough the puck up to Yegor Sharangovich at mid-ice. Sharangovich quickly entered the zone and made a great cross-ice pass to Frost, who one-timed his fifth of the year past Anton Forsberg.
None of it happens without Klapka, who didn’t get an assist on the play.
Klapka, who has anchored the Flames effective fourth line this year, swapped lines with Aydar Suniev Saturday.
Farabee having impact again
Joel Farabee has quietly gone about being the Flames’ best forward this season, and he’s done it in almost every possible way.
He kills penalties, he’s been on the team’s top shut-down line, and he’s a big part of the team’s sudden power-play success. Oh, and he’s their leading scorer, with seven goals and 17 points in 20 outings.
Ryan Huska said he’s a coach’s dream, as he’s willing to do whatever the bench bosses ask of him.
A prime example of that came midway through a tight game Saturday, when a quick burst of speed in the neutral zone by the 26-year-old to fight off two defenders created two good chances and drew a penalty on the Kings. After he attempted to bat in a rebound, Farabee was steamrolled by Joel Edmundson, giving the Flames’ fourth-ranked power play its third opportunity of the evening.
Farabee’s line, with Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, was solid again all night.
The Lines
Farabee - Backlund – Coronato
Gridin – Pospisil – Strome
Sharangovich – Frost – Klapka
Stromgren – Castagna – Suniev
Middleton – Whitecloud
Hanley - Nemec
Kuznetsov – Parekh
Wolf
