Wolf makes 16 saves, Flames stifle Sharks in shutout

CALGARY -- Dustin Wolf made 16 saves and Blake Coleman scored in a 2-0 win for the Calgary Flames against the San Jose Sharks at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.

Samuel Honzek added an empty-net goal for the Flames (5-12-2), who had lost three games in a row.

“We needed a win,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “There’s a lot of things we liked about our game. I thought we did a really good job on the checking side of it, which is important for our team (and) the way we have to play, and then we found a way to get the one goal and the extra one.”

After making one save in the first period, Wolf stopped five shots in the second and 10 more in the third. It was the fourth NHL shutout for Wolf and his first of the season.

“I thought that was a 60-minute effort start to finish,” Wolf said. “That’s the way we want to play each and every night. We didn’t give them anything, and our (penalty) kill was excellent. We shut them down there in the last couple minutes and it feels good to get two points for your home (fans).”

Yaroslav Askarov made 34 saves for the Sharks (8-7-3), who had won four straight games and were 6-0-1 in their previous seven.

“We were awful tonight,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “[Askarov] was unbelievable. It shouldn’t have been a 2-0 game, that’s for sure. He was the only one who was ready to play.”

The Flames outshot the Sharks 13-1 in the first period but were unable to beat Askarov.

Mikael Backlund had the best chance when he skated past Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais and chipped a backhand that hit the right post behind Askarov and deflected wide at 14:56 of the first.

After Desharnais took a holding penalty on the play, the Sharks recorded their only shot of the period during the short-handed situation, but Wolf was able to get a piece of a backhand shot from the slot by forward Collin Graf.

“It’s tough, but at the same time, it’s your job to stay focused and stay present,” Wolf said of not having much work in the first period. “Credit to our guys for playing in their zone for most of the night, especially in the first period. They didn’t have anything until their one opportunity late in the period there. That’s the way we need to play and that’s the way we’re going to find success.”

Coleman put the Flames up 1-0 at 5:46 of the second period. After picking up a turnover by Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson, Coleman skated in on a breakaway and lifted a shot to the top corner over Askarov’s glove.

“I kind of had an idea what I wanted and then [Askarov] came out with a pretty aggressive poke check, so you just had to beat that and I felt like I had a good chance after that,” Coleman said. “I felt like, individually, that I could have had a few more tonight, and as a team certainly (we) could have had a few more, so I’ve got to continue to find ways to make teams pay for their mistakes.”

Dickinson said he had a miscommunication trying to get the puck to forward Philipp Kurashev on the play.

“Unfortunate bounce,” Dickinson said. “I’ve got to make a better play there. I’m caught standing still and get pickpocketed.”

Honzek scored into an empty net at 19:55 of the third period for the 2-0 final.

“I thought the buy-in was really high,” Coleman said. “I thought everyone did their job. In the first 40 (minutes) in particular, I thought we were pretty smothering and could have had a bigger lead going into the third period, but that’s the way things are going. We know we’ve got to play near perfect on one end. We’ve just got to continue to manufacture offense and getting some ugly, low-scoring wins is a good way to do that.”

NOTES: Wolf tied Pat Riggin (four) for the third-most shutouts by a Flames goaltender before the age of 25. The list is led by Dan Bouchard (11) and Trevor Kidd (10). … Wolf, who is from Gilroy, California, is the second California-born goaltender to earn a shutout against a California franchise, following Thatcher Demko, who did it on Dec. 6, 2021, for the Vancouver Canucks against the Los Angeles Kings. … Sharks forward Jeff Skinner left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury.