Rookie Jesper Wallstedt is a wilderness machine

The Minnesota Wild made a long-awaited goaltending change entering this season, following his retirement Reverend Marc-Andre Fleury His second-most wins in NHL history.

Move to Jesper Wallstedt as backup for Philip Gustafson It went better than the Wild could have imagined. With three league-leading finishes over his last four starts, Wallstedt has played like he’s ready to be an equal part of the all-Swedish goal tandem on a team competing for the playoffs rather than just a rookie eased into the game.

With a 1.94 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage, Wallstedt is among the top three in the NHL depending on where the minimum playing time is drawn. He went 6-0-2 in eight games, becoming the fourth-youngest goaltender in league history to start a season with eight straight points.

The wilderness, not coincidentally, has He won five matches in a row To raise November’s record to an NHL-best 9-1-1.

“When our team is going up against players, hitting sticks and blocking shots, it makes my job very easy,” said Wallstedt, who beat Winnipeg on Sunday with 32 saves. “I feel like that’s been our biggest trend over the last month, especially in our zone. Just to make sure I can see and save the first ball, I try not to give away any rebounds.”

Gustafsson, who became the No. 1 goalkeeper last season, has shaken off a rough start and found his groove as well. He is 4-1-1 with a .921 save percentage over his last six starts, including Close in Pittsburgh Friday. After signing A Five-year contract extension worth $34 million Towards the end of training camp and watching the 2021 first-round draft pick blossom behind him, the Wild are feeling very good about their goaltending situation these days.

How is the Swede?

Both Gustafsson and Wallstedt, despite a four-year difference, had the same goalkeeping coaches. Wallstedt moved into Gustavsson’s old apartment in Sweden, where the two became closer last summer to play golf and video games.

“It’s obviously easier to have a conversation when you speak the same language. It’s kind of unique, being one of the only Swedish goalkeepers for a while,” Falstedt said. “We’re great friends, so I feel like our relationship is very good. We push each other, but at the same time we support each other.”

There are only 10 goaltenders born in Sweden who have appeared in an NHL game this season, and the Wild — befitting the Scandinavian nation’s prominent place in Minnesota’s heritage — have a pair of their own.

“It’s healthy competition, and I think there’s confidence there,” coach John Hynes said. “I think it’s good to know that if the other player is going to play, you can count on him to be able to do his job.”

The superstitious nature of the sport has led many coaches to keep the same goaltender for the next game after the field closes, but when the Wild play in Chicago on Wednesday, Gustafsson could take the ice. Hines said after training on Tuesday that he had not made his decision yet. That likely means Wallstedt will get the back of the net when the Wild host the NHL-leading Colorado on Friday.

“They both deserved it. I think the ‘D’ team in front of them is more accurate and much better,” Hynes said. “When both goalkeepers play as hard as they do, I think the rotation was good.”

Gustafsson Wallstedt kept the Wild from falling behind for 480 straight minutes. Back-to-back hits by different goaltenders were only the second time in franchise history that had happened to the Wild, with Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson being the other duo to do so in 2003.

After indicating that Wallstedt would join Gustavsson and Fleury in a three-man combination last season, the 23-year-old was sent to work with Iowa’s AHL affiliate for the third straight season. Statistically, this was his worst minor league year. But when he returned to the team for the stretch of the regular season, the Wild saw a more confident goaltender.

“Sometimes you feel like you did better than everyone else, and maybe you feel like you deserve to get to the next level and play more, but I also think it happened for a reason,” Valstedt said. “I think the success I’m having now is something that probably should have happened after what happened in previous years.”