Minnesota Wild Suddenly Unsure of Their Plan at Goalie

There were 15 goals scored between the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche, in an insane Game 1 between the two Central Division rivals. Unfortunately, the road Wild came out on the losing end of the 9-6 shootout, and now trail in the series, 1-0.

After the game, head coach John Hynes showed confidence in his young goaltender, Jesper Wallstedt, seemingly waving off any questions about possibly replacing the 23-year-old former first round pick, in exchange for regular season starter, Filip Gustavsson.

Minnesota Wild now thinking about a goalie swap?

That was until Monday afternoon, when NHL insider Michael Russo (The Athletic) tweet out that Hynes has not made any lineup decisions yet for Game 2 in Colorado, including at goalie.

Hynes hasn’t made lineup decisions for tomorrow yet, including his goaltender

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) May 4, 2026

Against the Dallas Stars in round one, Wallstedt was incredibly impressive, posting a .924 save % and 2.3 GAA while the MN Wild went 4-1-1 in his starts. Of course, Wally started all of the first round games against Dallas.

Gustavsson was a surprise benching at the start of the postseason, after a late-season meltdown that forced the Wild to replace him with the kid, who came in with no playoff experience. The 27-year-old former 2nd round pick recorded a .903 save % in the regular season with a 2.69 GAA.

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My antennas are up on this situation, mostly because the Colorado Avalanche talked postgame Sunday about how they scouted a weakness in Wallstedt’s game, specifically on shots from the left faceoff circle, a spot they scored FIVE goals from in Game 1.

Could the Avs admission have anything to do with the Minnesota Wild’s sudden hesitation to start Jesper for his seventh-straight game? Only time will tell…

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