(2-2-26) Wild Vs Canadiens: Starting Goaltending Matchup
Who holds the crease advantage? A deep dive into the starting goaltender battle between the Wild and Canadiens tonight.
Video Transcript
Well, the Minnesota Wild got a much needed bounce back start from their young goaltender, Jesper Wallstedt.
He burst on the scene early and was super good for the Wild to start the season.
In the month of November, he went six, oh, and oh, with a one fourteen goals against average and a nine sixty save, sixty-seven save percentage, which was good enough to win Rookie of the Month.
He was one of the best goalies in the league.
He was league leader in goals against, save percentage, shutouts for a very long period of time.
December, he followed up a fantastic November with a pretty good December as well.
He had a two fifty-eight goals against average and a nine sixteen save percentage and was four, two, and one.
But January has been tough sledding for the rookie goaltender, who was named to Team Sweden's Olympic roster, along with his goalie partner, Filip Gustavsson.
But Wallstedt entered the game against the Chicago Blackhawks with a four forty-two goals against average and an eight sixty-five save percentage.
Not where he wanted to be.
He was just one, three, and one before that game, but he came out of it with a huge shutout victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, and he, he was specifically incredible on the penalty kill when the Wild really needed him most.
They took five penalties in that game against the Blackhawks, and Wallstedt stopped all eleven shots he faced on the penalty kill, including five in overtime when the Hawks were on the power play, and he came up big in the shootout as well.
He has said he feels like he has been playing fine recently, despite allowing a lot of goals.
He doesn't feel like it's anything positionally.
He feels it's, it's just sometimes it happens.
But against the Chicago Blackhawks, it seemed maybe it was a much needed game for him, and especially as the Olympics approach, as he is one of the three goalies for Team Sweden, and they did say that they were gonna have the tandem of Gustavsson and Wallstedt.
So this was a big, big win for Jesper Wallstedt and a, a big one for the young rookie goaltender.
I'm Dylan Lax from IHN News.
Stay tuned.
