ST. PAUL, Minn. — You could tell Jesper Wallstedt was ticked off at himself.

It was early in the second period Tuesday, and the Minnesota Wild were pressuring the Chicago Blackhawks, trying to narrow a two-goal deficit. Then Chicago countered with a rush, and Ilya Mikheyev beat Wallstedt with a wrist shot, glove-side.

Wallstedt kicked his skate out in frustration as the scoreboard went to 3-0.

“I make that save nine times out of 10,” he said. “But I didn’t. You’ve just got to move on from it. I felt, at the time, now we’re in one here.”

The “Wall of St. Paul” didn’t break, though. After that goal, Wallstedt made 18 straight saves to enable Minnesota’s 4-3 come-from-behind, shootout victory at Grand Casino Arena.

“He saved us,” Joel Eriksson Ek said.

It was an impressive display of maturity and poise from the 23-year-old goaltender, who had been in a stretch of three straight losses (giving up a combined 15 goals). The perspective gained during a humbling season with AHL Iowa in 2024-25 — a low point in his career — has helped him navigate adversity in his first full NHL season.

Wallstedt has allowed three or more goals in eight of his past nine starts but feels like his game is in a good place. He just focused on practicing while Filip Gustavsson started the last two.

“I know a couple losses, it’s not everything,” Wallstedt said. “Like, OK, it’s going to happen. It’s more so what you do with it. There’s no stress. There’s no getting upset about losing a couple of games. I still feel like I’m in a good position to keep performing.”

Wild coach John Hynes, who has seen this growth in Wallstedt, said he didn’t consider pulling the Swede after it was 3-0. He noted that Wallstedt had made some good saves, too — that the team overall wasn’t playing well. He told them at intermission that they needed to push back more, and that included their goalie.

“That’s something you want to see from a goaltender,” Hynes said. “It’s important for him to push through that. But it’s important for him in the relationship with the team, that he’s going to hang in there and continue to battle. After (the third goal), he made some huge, huge saves and competed. That’s what you need. That kind of galvanizes the team.”

You could see how much respect Wallstedt has earned this season from his teammates. They could see a different guy, even in preseason, when he might give up a couple of goals early but then lock it down and give them a chance. He’d “continue to fight,” as Hynes put it. And there was a big-picture truth to that. He was fighting to stay in the NHL.

The Olympics? The Winter Games weren’t even on his radar.

“Not in the slightest,” he said. “My goal and my focus was always to make sure I’m in good enough shape and I’ve done everything I can throughout the summer to make sure I could perform when the season starts. I knew I had to have a good start to the year, and that was kind of it. It wasn’t, ‘OK, I have to have a good start so I can make the Olympics.’ It was more like, ‘If I want to play in the NHL this year or make sure I’m in the position I want to be, I’ve got to perform now.’

“That in itself was such a big, big thing. I’m like, ‘If I don’t perform now, I might be out of my contract sooner. I might go to the AHL again.’”

Wallstedt solidified his place with a red-hot start, including going 6-0 with a .967 save percentage and a 1.14 goals-against average in November. His numbers were among the best in the NHL, which led him to be in a pretty even rotation with Gustavsson. It also earned Wallstedt a spot on the Swedish Olympic team. He’s tailed off a bit since then, but it was never something that worried him.

“I always say the experiences I had last year were meant to happen. I think it only made me stronger,” Wallstedt said. “I think the ups and downs I go through this year are easier to go through when I’ve been through stuff before. Every day for me is a new experience. I live and I learn every day. So I just try to improve and build that mental toughness through every day.”

Tuesday’s win was a good example. Wallstedt settled in and started to make some key saves. He buoyed a five-for-five penalty kill, including a clutch four-on-three kill in the final two minutes of overtime. He didn’t give up a goal in the shootout, with Frank Nazar’s attempt missing wide, Connor Bedard not getting a shot off and Wallstedt making a pad save on Ryan Donato’s attempt to seal it. Wallstedt performed his signature celebration afterward, getting down on one knee and pointing his stick to the sky.

Jesper Wallstedt performs his signature celebration on Tuesday. (Matt Krohn / Imagn Images)

Mats Zuccarello gave Wallstedt the player of the game hat in the dressing room after. It should be a confidence booster and help him gain momentum heading into what could be a couple more starts before the Olympics.

“It’s going to be some ups and downs,” Wallstedt said, “And lately, maybe not as good as I would have liked to, but also that’s hockey in the NHL. Like, some days you’re going to face good shooters that are going to score, even when you feel like you’re playing good. I still feel like my game is in a good spot. I feel really good. I think our team is playing really good hockey right now, too. I like where we’re at.”