With the Flames clinging to a 2-1 lead and the hosts pressing hard, there was the California Kid making a big glove save on Macklin Celebrini in the final minute.
Then, with ten seconds left, he slid across his crease to gobble up a great Mikael Granlund chance to seal the deal, set up an empty netter, and lift his Flames to a 3-1 win.
It extended the Flames’ point streak to five games, it gave the team a rare road victory and gave Wolf a chance to one-up the Calder Trophy favourite in their first showdown.
A few takeaways from an evening in which Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice and Mikael Backlund scored the winner on the power play:
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Calder Trophy showdown
As the featured late game on Hockey Night in Canada, Wolf was given a great stage to remind fans out east there are more than just Matvei Michkov, Lane Hutson and Celebrini in the race for rookie of the year.
Celebrini is on pace to become the seventh first-overall pick to average a point-per-game as a rookie, making him the clear favourite at this point.
The 18-year-old beat Wolf with a wicked one-timer on the power play to tie the game early in the second with his 12th of the season.
His 27th point in his 27th game came on a night in which he dazzled with his speed, tenacity, work ethic and smarts.
But Wolf was also on point, stopping 21 San Jose shots to up his record to 11-5-2 — a mark that has the 23-year-old native of Gilroy, California sitting tied for 16th in wins despite splitting time in Calgary.
It was a particularly meaningful victory for Wolf, not just because he grew up 40 minutes outside San Jose, but because only one of his previous wins this year had come on the road.
“Our road games have been a struggle for us this year but we all came in here rested off a long break,” said Wolf, who out-duelled another future star in Yaroslav Askarov.
“For myself it feels good to come home. I watched a lot of games in this arena. I like to think it gives you a little extra jump and its cool to have some family in the crowd.”
The Flames are still one of the league’s lowest-scoring teams, but have managed to maintain a playoff position by leading the league with their 12th win while scoring three goals or less.
Helping their cause of late has been the power play, which has turned its fortunes around significantly
Backlund’s game-winner seven minutes into the second period broke a 1-1 tie and came with the man advantage, giving the Flames 14 power play goals in their last 17 games.
Operating at a 32.5 per cent clip since Nov. 19, only two teams have had more success with the extra man than the Flames over that span.
Huberdeau’s two goals give him four in his last three games and seven in his last eight, putting him on pace for the highest goal total of his career.
Yes, you read that right.
Twice the 31-year-old has scored 30 goals, but his 15 so far this season has him on target to score 35.
He’s done it by focusing more on his 200-foot game, and has meshed well with Nazem Kadri since the two were put together at the beginning of December.
Huberdeau has points in 10 of his last 11 games, scoring eight times and adding 15 points in that span.
The physical battle Huberdeau won before scoring his empty netter in the final second Saturday was symbolic of just how much more competitive the veteran has been this season.
With three assists and seven shots Saturday, Kadri has six goals and six helpers in that same span.
The duo will need to be on point Sunday when the Flames visit Vegas.
