![\"Montreal](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/STP-Z-Wild-Canadiens-Hockey_258468394.jpg\")
Montreal Canadiens’ Phillip Danault (24) scores on Minnesota Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt (30) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Christinne Muschi\/The Canadian Press via AP)<\/p>\nST. LOUIS \u2014 The Minnesota Wild\u2019s two options for puck-stopping duties, veteran Filip Gustavsson and rookie Jesper Wallstedt, speak the same language. They play similar styles and they are comparable physically.<\/p>\n
Their numbers, with two regular-season games remaining, are shockingly similar. Gustavsson\u2019s goals-against average, after 49 appearances, is 2.64. Wallstedt\u2019s, after his 34th appearance on Saturday in Nashville, is 2.63. The save percentages are .906 and .915, respectively.<\/p>\n
Montreal Canadiens’ Phillip Danault (24) scores on Minnesota Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt (30) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Christinne Muschi\/The Canadian Press via AP)<\/p>\n
Yet only one of them can start Game 1 of the playoffs in Dallas next weekend, and who that will be is a decision coach John Hynes needs to make.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t gone down that road yet of that decision,\u201d Hynes said following Saturday\u2019s 2-1 loss to the Predators, in which Wallstedt had 20 saves on 22 shots. \u201cI think I\u2019m focused on both guys and seeing where both end up after the next two games, and then we\u2019ll make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gustavsson, 27, signed a five-year contract extension at the start of this season and would appear to be No. 1 in the tandem. He has gotten the nod in 49 games this season, compared to 34 for Wallstedt, and on the surface would seem to be the obvious choice to have the crease versus the Stars.<\/p>\n
Wallstedt, 23, got one start last season but is officially a rookie, and has put together a notable first full season after admitting to struggling mentally and physically a year ago while playing for the Iowa Wild in the AHL.<\/p>\n
Gustavsson\u2019s most recent start, in Dallas on Thursday, was not a good one.<\/p>\n
The Stars rallied to win 5-4 despite holding leads in every period. Gustavsson had 15 saves on 20 shots. It\u2019s worth noting that Dallas\u2019 tying goal came via a puck deflected off a Stars player\u2019s skate and was allowed to stand after a review. The game-winner came with bodies in Gustavsson\u2019s way and he likely never saw the shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough. Probably was a few tough goals out there,\u201d Gustavsson said after the loss dropped him to 28-16-6 as Minnesota\u2019s goalie of record this season. \u201cI feel like, for how we played, we should have got a better result today. I felt like we\u2019re playing very good, so, it (stinks) right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two days later in Nashville, the Predators scored on a first-period wraparound and a second-period shot through traffic against, Wallstedt, who lacked goal support as he fell to 17-9-6 as the Wild starter. After a red-hot start to the season \u2014 8-0-2 and solidly in the rookie of the year conversation \u2014 Wallstedt has cooled off a bit but showed in Nashville an ability to stay poised in the face of a high shot volume in the first two periods.<\/p>\n
After the game, Wallstedt said his confidence remains high and he\u2019ll be ready for his first taste of playoff hockey if called upon versus the Stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens. I think I\u2019ve played some really good hockey down the stretch now,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the last 10, 11, 12 games maybe have been really solid, even though maybe I haven\u2019t won all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, the recent games show, again, similar numbers for each goalie. Since March 1, Gustavsson has gone 7-5-0, while Wallstedt is 3-3-2 in that stretch.<\/p>\n
So, Hynes\u2019 decision on a Game 1 starter is looming, and no other choice he makes may mean as much for a team seeking a playoff series win for the first time in more than a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. LOUIS \u2014 The Minnesota Wild\u2019s two options for puck-stopping duties, veteran Filip Gustavsson and rookie Jesper Wallstedt,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5119],"tags":[5,38,2409,231,5281,4,2410,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-551253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nashville-predators","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-minnesota-wild","10":"tag-nashville","11":"tag-nashville-predators","12":"tag-nashvillepredators","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-predators","15":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116392774659052604","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}