How is Flames’ goalie Dustin Wolf’s bounce-back ability? Let’s check the stats

It’s the sort of reputation that every goaltender strives for.

You want to be known as a guy who will bounce back after a bad outing, who is going to be especially stingy after a sub-standard showing.

That was, remember, part of what made Miikka Kiprusoff a legend in Calgary.

It has also been a strength for Dustin Wolf in the early stages of his career, something he’ll look to build on as he returns to the home crease for Thursday’s matchup against the Minnesota Wild.

Despite his status as one of the Flames’ franchise pillars, it will be Wolf’s first start in more than a week. He barely had time to break a sweat last Wednesday in Tampa, yanked after surrendering three goals on four shots in less than six minutes.

How does Wolf reset?

About a month ago, with his team returning from a trip, a reporter was asking Wolf about his strategy for resetting and rebounding after a dud.

In that case, he had been pulled two games earlier. He responded by backstopping his squad to a 2-1 victory in Philadelphia.

“In that scenario, I sit my butt on the chair, watch the rest of that game, get on the plane, play some cards and wake up the next day ready to rock,” he said matter-of-factly. “And then when you get that next opportunity to get back in there, you try to redeem yourself.”

This time, Wolf has been waiting over a week to redeem himself. Although he was able to knock off some rust as a reliever in Thursday’s 5-1 drubbing from the Nashville Predators, you’d be foolish to judge a masked man on a mop-up appearance.

All eyes, however, will be on No. 32 on Thursday.

Is he sour about watching his backup Devin Cooley start three straight, having been left to stew about being lit up by the Lightning?

After he was the NHL’s busiest backstop over the first six weeks of the season, will he benefit from the breather?

Will he make a silent statement that he should have been back between the pipes sooner?

Wolf has a long ways to go to reach a Kipper-like level — remember, Kiprusoff was basically a brick wall if he had just been shelled — but the 24-year-old is beginning to earn a reputation as a guy who is going to be sharp after a stinker.

He was hooked a grand total of four times during his days with the AHL’s Wranglers. If you examine the stats from those next starts, he went 3-1 with a .919 save percentage.

And how about in the NHL? After getting the heave-ho from the head coach, he’s so far 2-1 with a .919 save percentage. His record in those scenarios would be 3-0 if he’d had a little more offensive support during an Oct. 20 home loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Either way, Wolf was brilliant in that one.

Related

The Flames, as you’ll surely hear in every interview from Thursday’s morning skate, haven’t lost confidence in their rising-star netminder. There’s a reason that he was a Calder Trophy finalist last spring and was signed to a seven-year, US$52.5-million extension over the summer, and we’d argue that he has been better this fall than the numbers suggest. Behind a last-place team, he has posted a 3.16 goals-against average and .891 save percentage.

Based on his bounce-back history, he’s primed Thursday to improve on that line. And isn’t that the reputation that every goalie is going for?

“It’s hockey, it’s the sport that you put everything into,” Wolf said in that early November interview, stressing that the biggest mistake is to overreact to those not-your-night nights. “If you don’t freak out and overdo stuff and not focus on the areas you thrive in, it makes it a lot more simple.”

Ice chips

The Wild have been rotating their goaltenders over the past few weeks, so perhaps the Flames will catch a break and dodge Jesper Wallstedt. The 23-year-old rookie has pitched a shutout in four of his past six starts — including Tuesday’s 1-0 goose-egg at Edmonton — and has yet to lose in regulation this season. No disrespect to Filip Gustavsson, but the NHL’s lowest-scoring squad would rather see anybody but Wallstedt.

wgilbertson@postmedia.com

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