Wolf makes 32 saves, Flames shut out Panthers

CALGARY -- Dustin Wolf made 32 saves to help the Calgary Flames to a 3-0 win against the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.

The shutout is Wolf's second in the NHL, both of which have come this season.

"The last couple I have not been at my best, but that's the way hockey goes sometimes," Wolf said. "Anytime you get the next opportunity you want to make the most of it. It's a great team effort and glad we were able to pull that one off."

Mikael Backlund had a goal and an assist, and Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman scored for the Flames (15-11-5), who have won two of three after losing six of their previous seven.

"We just beat the [Stanley] Cup champs, so it shows we've got some fight in this group and some punch in us," Coleman said. "And we've said it all year -- if we play that way, we can beat anybody and we feel very confident in that. It's a hard brand of hockey. You'd be lying if you said you'd have it all 82 games, but if you can have it for 80 percent of your games you're going to give yourself a fighting chance to be in a position where it matters down the stretch."

Spencer Knight made 24 saves for the Panthers (18-11-2), who have been shut out in consecutive games after winning three straight.

"I don't want them fighting [frustration] too hard," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "It's not a bad thing to be frustrated between games. I don't care about the offense. If they're frustrated because they're not scoring that has nothing to do with us winning hockey games or being a good team. Everybody goes through stretches. I'm not sitting here saying we should win every game. Our rush defense [stinks]. I've got to get that fixed. Other than that, I'm not worried about anything else we've got going."

Kadri put Calgary up 1-0 at 8:57 of the first period when he stripped Dmitry Kulikov of the puck, deked backhand to forehand and slid the puck by Knight's right pad.

Backlund scored at 11:34, but the goal was disallowed after video review confirmed he directed the puck into the net with a distinct kicking motion.

"I just had a feeling it was a kicking motion, but I realized I had to celebrate too," Backlund said. "It was nice to get one eventually."

Coleman made it 2-0 at 19:05 of the second period when he shot five-hole off the rush, and Backlund pushed it to 3-0 at 6:17 of the third period when he beat Knight glove side from just inside the left face-off circle.

Backlund's goal, his first in 15 games, came after Wolf made a blocker save on Sam Bennett's breakaway at 4:54.

"That's huge," Coleman said. "It was my turnover, so it's really huge. That's the kind of goalie he is, especially at home this year. He's just been lights out. If you make a mistake, he's there and he's got your back. He makes that save and ‘Backs’ puts it away. That's the way the game goes. You could be looking at a different situation if they found a way to get one there. He just looked really confident and collected all night and makes everything look pretty easy."

Wolf's save helped push the Panthers' goal drought to 146:01 dating to a 2-1 shootout win at the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.

"We know what we're going to do," Florida forward Anton Lundell said. "We've all got to start working a little harder, kind of go to the hard areas more. We can't play in the comfort zone. We want to try to play a little bit in the hard zone, so I think that's the key."

NOTES: Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov did not play because of illness. ... Wolf has an NHL-leading .949 save percentage on home ice this season. He has an .862 save percentage in six road starts. ... Calgary is 7-0-0 when leading after two periods. ... Kadri has four points (three goals, one assist) in a four-game point streak.