ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jesper Wallstedt will make his season debut on Sunday night when the Minnesota Wild host the Vegas Golden Knights.
Wallstedt, a 2021 first-round pick, was recalled under emergency conditions Saturday night because, according to a team source, Filip Gustavsson is dealing with lower-body soreness. Wild coach John Hynes said Gustavsson will be “getting looked at” on Sunday and that his injury isn’t expected to be “major.”
Gustavsson practiced Friday, warmed up Saturday night and backed up Marc-Andre Fleury during Fleury’s 21-save win over Philadelphia. But the Wild decided it would be smartest to call up Wallstedt to start rather than have Fleury, 40, play back-to-back days.
Gustavsson, who has been Vezina-like this season, is coming off consecutive starts in which he allowed a total of nine goals (1-1). The 26-year-old is 14-5-3 with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage this season.
Sunday’s game will mark Wallstedt’s fourth career NHL start and first at Xcel Energy Center. The 22-year-old goaltender signed a two-year, one-way, $4.4 million ($2.2 million AAV) extension in early October that’ll begin next season with a presumed Gustavsson-Wallstedt tandem.
Wallstedt was supposed to spend most of this season in Minnesota, but strong starts by Gustavsson and Fleury and the Wild’s tight cap space resulted in him being assigned to AHL Iowa early in the season. He hadn’t been back since, partly because of his struggles there, where he’s 5-6-1 with a 3.77 goals-against average and a .874 save percentage. But since getting a weekend off in Charlotte as part of a mental reset to work with Iowa goalie coach Richard Bachman, Wallstedt is 2-0 (two goals allowed) and coming off a 23-save shutout against Rockford on Wednesday night.
Wallstedt was 2-1 and had a 3.01 goals-against average and .897 save percentage with Minnesota last season. He gave up two goals in his final two starts — both victories, including a shutout in Chicago.
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(Photo of Jesper Wallstedt: Nick Wosika / USA Today)