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Calgary Flames lead NHL in surprising stat since their brutal start

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Nov 6 2026, 5:05 pm
Calgary Flames lead NHL in surprising stat since their brutal start
Simon Fearn/Imagn Images

The Calgary Flames couldn’t seem to get a save during the first few weeks of the 2026-27 NHL season. Now, they’re getting better goaltending than any team in the league.

After opening the campaign with five consecutive losses, the Flames have completely turned things around, and the play they are getting from their goalies is a big reason why. In fact, according to a recent post from Sportsnet Stats, Calgary leads the entire NHL in team save percentage since its 0-5-0 start.

It’s a pretty remarkable turnaround for a team that was giving up goals in bunches to begin the season.

Through their first five games, the Flames surrendered 27 goals, including a particularly ugly seven-goal performance against the Colorado Avalanche. There were plenty of questions about the team’s defensive structure, but the goaltending certainly wasn’t helping matters.

Flames-Wolf

Christopher Trim/Imagn Images

Since then, things have been considerably different.

Calgary has gone 7-3-1 over its last 11 games, allowing 28 goals during that stretch. Both Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley have played important roles in helping the Flames stabilize their season.

Cooley was particularly impressive during a stretch in which he won four consecutive starts, earning NHL Second Star of the Week honours along the way. He stopped 127 of 133 shots during that four-game winning streak, good for a .955 save percentage.

Wolf, meanwhile, has also started to find his game after a difficult opening stretch. His most recent start saw him stop 27 of 29 shots in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken.

Of course, the Flames still have plenty of work to do if they hope to keep things up. Their offence has been inconsistent, and a strong stretch of goaltending doesn’t necessarily mean their early-season struggles are behind them for good.

flames-cooley

Sergei Belski/Imagn Images

Still, it’s difficult to ignore what has happened in Calgary’s crease over the past few weeks.

For a team that started the season 0-5-0 and had serious questions surrounding its goaltending, leading the NHL in save percentage since that disastrous start is quite the turnaround.

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