ST. PAUL, Minn. — With Jesper Wallstedt riding an impressive shutout streak, the Minnesota Wild goaltender got some perspective with an inspirational quote Tuesday night.

Wallstedt was scrolling TikTok when he saw it.

“If there were no goals scored in hockey, no one would play it,” Wallstedt recalled. “That kind of made me think a little bit, like, ‘Okay, there’s supposed to be goals in hockey. But then it’s my job to not make them happen.”

Wallstedt has done his job remarkably well as of late, and that continued in Wednesday’s 4-3 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Swede’s shutout streak was snapped at 175:12 (95 straight saves) on a Jackson Blake redirection in the second period, falling less than 22 minutes shy of the franchise record of 197:09 set by Devan Dubnyk. But with Carolina dominating Minnesota for a good chunk of the final two periods, it was Wallstedt’s 42-save performance that enabled the Wild to steal two points. Minnesota is 7-1-1 in its last nine games, including 4-0-1 on this homestand.

The Wild had allowed just six goals in their previous six games, not giving up a 5-on-5 goal for a stretch of 302:43. But they were much more leaky in this one, including getting outshot 45-18. Minnesota had zero shots in the last 12:27 of the game, with the Hurricanes holding a 30-8 shot edge in the final 40 minutes. Matt Boldy scored a shorthanded goal and the shootout winner.

“Credit to (Wallstedt), that game could have been a whole lot different,” defenseman Brock Faber said. “It was one of those nights he played fantastic. He gave us a chance to win. At the end of the day, he won it for us.

“It was a special, special performance out of him for sure.”

Wallstedt has earned the Wild at least a point in each of his seven starts this season (5-0-2). He gave up the tying goal to Blake with just over a minute left, but thwarted the Carolina forward on a breakaway in overtime and stopped all three shootout attempts. Wallstedt is 2-0 in shootouts this season, celebrating both times with his now signature sliding on one knee and shooting an arrow celebration.

THE WALL OF ST. PAUL!! 🟢 pic.twitter.com/dWzKYbgSFz

— NHL (@NHL) November 20, 2025

You can tell how much more confidence Wallstedt has this season compared to his rough year in the AHL with Iowa last season.

“That’s my game plan kind of, I want to be there. I want to make it look easy,” Wallstedt said. “I want to moreso make it look like I’m getting hit than making saves. When the puck comes to me, that’s usually a good sign instead of me chasing the puck. That’s something I did last year. Now I’m trying to make the puck come to me instead. Yeah, it’s been working good. Rebound control has always been my strength. I’m happy with the confidence I have I can keep a lot of pucks and get whistles on them.”

The Wild actually got off to a good start, taking a 2-0 lead after the first period. Brock Faber’s goal 1:54 into the first period was the franchise-record 10th consecutive game in which the Wild scored first, which they’ve done in 13 of 21 games, second in the NHL behind only the Chicago Blackhawks (14). The last team to score first in more than 10 games in a row was the 2021-22 Colorado Avalanche (13 games). Minnesota nearly blew this one, but the players weren’t apologizing for it.

“A win’s a win — when April comes ‘Oh you beat Carolina but you played bad.’ Two points, and that’s what matters,” Boldy said. “No one in this room cares. I think we’ll learn from it. We’ll use it to get better. But two points is two points. And like I said, come the end of the year, it doesn’t matter how we played, we won.”

Yurov’s top line chance

With Ryan Hartman and Marco Rossi both sidelined, rookie Danila Yurov got a chance on the top line with Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov. Yurov had earned it with his play in recent weeks, showing he was not only defensively responsible, but had the hockey sense to play with really strong players.

Yurov had his moments Wednesday. The Russian center was part of a slick passing play on Faber’s goal, and added another assist on Zuccarello’s breakaway goal to open the third.

BROCK FABER pic.twitter.com/kVfOVhKiun

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) November 20, 2025

But the line had “its ups and downs,” as coach John Hynes put it. Zuccarello took a penalty late in the first period, and the line was on the ice for Blake’s shutout-streak snapping goal in the second period. Zuccarello-Yurov-Kaprizov saw four shifts in that period, when Minnesota was often hemmed in their own zone, but none in the final 5:57 after the goal against. The group then scored on the opening shift of the third on Zuccarello’s breakaway.

“It wound up being a little bit of a rotation,” Hynes said. “Where we got hemmed in and had a couple different matchups on that. But I thought they played better. They impacted the game and there was moments but I would say, all together, there needs to be more consistency.”

It was interesting, perhaps telling, that Hynes didn’t really put Yurov out a lot late in the third period, especially in defensive zone faceoff situations (preferring fourth liner Ben Jones and, of course, Joel Eriksson Ek). It might take some time for Yurov to earn trust in all situations, but teammates like where he’s progressing.

“He’s making plays,” Boldy said. “He’s very responsible. He’s always in the right spot. That offense is going to come. Like I said, it’s hard. It’s not that easy, especially at a young guy playing center and having a lot of responsibility and then playing with Zuccy and Kirill is a beast on its own. So I thought he was awesome.”

Boldy continues hot streak with shorty

After scoring one goal in a 10-game stretch, Boldy scored for the sixth time in the past seven games. He is now tied with Kaprizov for first on the team with 11 goals and on a 43-goal pace.

The goal came on a breakaway and through Freddie Andersen’s five-hole after a turnover by the NHL’s 31st ranked power play. For Boldy, it was his first career shorthanded goal. He had two during the 2020-21 season for Boston College.

MATT BOLDY WITH THE SHORTY!! 🚨

📺: @NHL_On_TNT & @StreamOnMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T pic.twitter.com/ldHKZ0gH7r

— NHL (@NHL) November 20, 2025

“He plays winning hockey,” Hynes said. “He’s extremely competitive. Great attention to detail without the puck. I think he’s making really smart decisions when he has opportunities to create offense, whether it be off the rush or make plays. But I also think he’s playing a power forward game, so it’s nice to see his growth. And the other thing with Bolds, I would say that sometimes he goes though stretches where the points aren’t going in from him but his game doesn’t change. He’s a guy that you feel and know that night in and night out he’s going to do the things that help you win.

Injury updates

Hartman, who is out with a charley horse, was placed on injured reserve so the Wild could add an extra forward — Hunter Haight — for the upcoming road trip. That means Hartman will miss at least three games and isn’t eligible to return to the Wild’s lineup until Nov. 26 in his hometown of Chicago.

Defenseman Zach Bogosian, who has missed 16 games with a lower-body injury, is now listed as day-to-day and will travel on the upcoming trip to Pittsburgh and Winnipeg with Sturm so they can at least practice. Sturm has yet to make his season debut after back surgery toward the end of training camp, but, like Bogosian, Sturm has practiced the past two games and says he’s feeling “great.”

Winger Vladimir Tarasenko (lower body) missed his third game in a row, while Rossi (lower body) continued to be in a boot and is listed as week to week.