For all of the devastated Calgary Flames faithful who were counting on a much deeper NHL playoff run this spring, I have good news — all is not lost. While the Flames failed to reach the Western Conference Final last week, their American Hockey League (AHL) counterparts are absolutely cruising through the Calder Cup playoffs and kick off their third-round series against the Chicago Wolves on Friday night in the Windy City.
Having just completed their most successful regular season in franchise history, the Stockton Heat have barely broken a sweat in the AHL playoffs. Finishing first in the Pacific Division gave the Heat a bye to the second round, and they wasted very little time dispatching the Bakersfield Condors, sweeping the Edmonton Oilers’ affiliate in three games. Next up, Stockton faced the Colorado Eagles, and this time, rookie netminder Dustin Wolf completely stole the show.
Wolf Posts Three Shutouts As Stockton Downs Colorado 3-1 to Advance to the Western Conference Final
A deserving winner of the AHL’s goaltender of the year award, Wolf posted a sparkling 33–9–4 record and a .924 save percentage in 47 appearances to lead the Heat to the second best record in the entire league. And yet, somehow, the 6-foot, 170-pound netminder didn’t have a single shutout during the regular season.
Related: Flames Shouldn’t Rush Dustin Wolf to the NHL
Wolf certainly remedied that situation in Stockton’s best-of-five series against the Eagles. After Game 1 on May 23, he registered his first professional shutout after holding opponents to just one goal a whopping 17 times during the regular season. He followed that up with another goose egg the very next night, stopping all 27 shots he faced as the Heat defeated the Eagles by a 1–0 score to take a 2-0 series lead.
Dustin Wolf (Photo by Christopher Mast/NHLI via Getty Images)
After a barnburner 6-5 overtime loss snapped Stockton’s five-game playoff winning streak, the 21-year-old puck stopper made 40 saves…
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