MN Wild Switched Playoff Goalies Last Minute Amid Recent Tension

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Jesper Wallstedt and Mats Zuccarello : Stanley Cup Playoffs-Minnesota Wild at Dallas Stars
Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Wild beat up on the Dallas Stars Saturday afternoon, in decisive 6-1 fashion, a defeat the Stars don’t seem overly perturbed by.

Nonetheless, the Wild have an opportunity on Monday night to put a boot on the throat of their division rival, before this series even makes it back to the State of Hockey.

If they are going to go up 2-0 in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history, the MN Wild will need another outstanding performance from rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt, who stopped 27 of Dallas’ 28 shots on goal Saturday and made it very clear to Mikko Rantanen that there will be no shenanigans in front of his net.

It was the exact type of performance Bill Guerin and John Hynes envisioned when they decided to start the 23-year-old former first round pick (with ZERO postseason experience) over their regular season starter, Filip Gustavsson (11 playoff starts), who’s allowed 4.2 goals per game over his last six starts.

Minnesota Wild chose Jesper Wallstedt last minute amid locker room tension…

It wasn’t an easy decision, however, and not one Minnesota Wild brass took lightly. In fact, Michael Russo (The Athletic) revealed on Sunday during an interview with KFAN that the Wild indeed were planning to start Gustavsson in game one, until Hynes and Guerin changed their minds at the last minute.

Even more interesting, Russo reports that the Wild’s shift in thinking came, at least in part due to Gustavsson’s excuses with media after his previous two poor performances, even mentioning a “tension” in the locker room after Minnesota’s 5-4 regular season loss in Dallas back on April 9 (listen below around the 1:09:00 mark).

“The last [regular season game in Dallas], I thought there was a lot of tension in [the locker room] after that game because they knew how well they played. They scored three power play goals, [and] they lost a game, giving up five [goals] in a game that they clearly deserved to win. That, I thought, created a tension in there, and I think the Wild recognized that.”

“I know they were going with Gus. Like, I know it. I’m not just [saying it]. So something changed in the last couple of days, and I just think I think there was a combination of the really disconcerting stuff that that Gustavsson was saying after both his last two losses, the one in Dallas and the one in Saint Louis.

I think it had to do with his body language in net, and I think it had to do with just the body language that Wallstedt had in net. Like he just has this swagger about him right now, and body of work means nothing if you’re not playing well at the time. And one was playing poorly and one wasn’t, and they went with the guy that they I think thought the players would really rally around, and they certainly did yesterday.”

Michael Russo on KFAN Radio

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Hynes was asked after the game if he plans on going with Wallstedt again in game two, a question he and Russo were both surprised by, at the time. Of course the Minnesota Wild are going with the kid again on Monday night.

Because a win tomorrow would give them a chance to actually end the series back in St. Paul. But first, Jesper and all the stars playing in front of him must go back into American Airlines Center and steal their second road victory in two tries.

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