“I didn’t see the pass, I saw a guy kinda walk over the top,” Wolf recalled after the team skated Wednesday afternoon in Boston. “There was like five or six guys standing in front of me and I didn’t know what was going on, but I kinda got a half-glimpse of (Savard).
It wasn’t (in) a position where it would have been coming towards me, it was just a knee-jerk reaction to kind of try to get myself into a position, and thankfully it just hit me.”
The stop was one of 15 Wolf made in the first period Tuesday, part of a performance that helped him start Wednesday in fifth place among NHL netminders in 5-on-5 save percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Wolf was perfect at evens in Montreal, and now boasts a .952 save percentage when his side is neither on the powerplay nor short-handed.
“Our 5-on-5 play is our bread and butter right now. That’s where we’ve found success; it’s the other areas of the game that we’re constantly working on.
They’re eventually going to come, the PK’s going to start clicking, the powerplay’s going to start scoring, but in the meantime, we know we have a foundation to lay back on with our 5-on-5 play.”
Wolf was snubbed from the in-arena three stars Tuesday, but if you ask his head coach, his performance - particularly in that opening frame - helped set the table for a memorable comeback.
“Last night was a little bit more on him,” Ryan Huska said Wednesday. “We had a tough first period after we took that (early) penalty where we were under siege a little bit. He had to make some saves that you don’t want to have to force your goaltender to make.
“I just feel like when he’s on his game, he’s comfortable in the net, and he’s capable of making any stop that he has to make.”
The type of save that lands on highlight reels across North America.
The type of win that can bring a big boost to a team scratching and clawing its way in a league - and a Western Conference - that takes no prisoner.
But for Wolf, it’s on to the next, whether that comes Thursday night against the Bruins, or further down the road.
He’s just happy to have done his part to help the team start this three-game swing on the front foot.
“Just the way that game unfolded,” he said. “You go down 2-1 on a short-handed goal, and Matty (Coronato) scores two pretty nice goals, one late in the game and obviously a pretty quick one in overtime which I was very pleased by.”
“Anytime you can create a comeback late in a game and come out with two points, it’s going to create momentum.”
