![\"Jesper](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/STP-Z-WALL-A-0420.jpg\")
Jesper Wallstedt guards his net during the second period in Game 1 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoffs hockey series between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo\/Julio Cortez)<\/p>\nDALLAS \u2014 The facemasks worn by hockey goalies provide important protection for their faces. They also hide their expressions and emotions from fans, whether they\u2019re in the arena or watching on TV.<\/p>\n
So, when Minnesota Wild rookie Jesper Wallstedt presented an outward image of cool, calm collectivity in stopping 27 of the 28 shots thrown his way in his first-ever playoff game, it literally masked what was going on inside his head.<\/p>\n
Jesper Wallstedt guards his net during the second period in Game 1 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoffs hockey series between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo\/Julio Cortez)<\/p>\n
In a good way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was definitely nervous. I think it just shows that it means something to you,\u201d a smiling Wallstedt said after the Wild\u2019s 6-1 victory over Dallas in Game 1 of their Western Conference quarterfinal Saturday at American Airlines Arena. \u201cI like a little bit of nerves. I think it\u2019s something good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wallstedt had gotten the word a few days earlier from Wild coach John Hynes that the net would belong to the younger of Minnesota\u2019s two Swedish goalies, due at least in part to a late-season body of work that included superior numbers and a quiet confidence.<\/p>\n
But when the team bus left the Wild\u2019s hotel, there were a few butterflies that got onboard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were definitely some nerves throughout the day, and a little bit extra when we were rolling in for the game here,\u201d said Wallstedt, who won 18 of his 33 regular-season starts. \u201cAs soon as the national anthem is over and the first few pucks start coming, you lock in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hynes said Sunday he did not expect any lineup changes for Game 2, but would not officially name Wallstedt the starter for Monday\u2019s 8:30 p.m. puck drop here.<\/p>\n
In the opening 20 minutes of Game 1, Wallstedt was the picture of calm and experience. When the game was done, all the Stars could do was tip their cap to the rookie who had helped put them in a hole in the series, and vow to give him more work on Monday if he is the starter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe looked solid, certainly, but we didn\u2019t test him at all through the first two periods,\u201d Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said Game 1. \u201cWe got some residual when they sat back in the third, but when you\u2019re sitting back in the third and the pressure\u2019s not on, it\u2019s kind of house money.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, Dallas got the crowd back involved, briefly, with a power-play goal to cut Minnesota\u2019s lead to 4-1 in the second period. Over the next few minutes, Wallstedt thwarted a solo shot alone in front of the net, and foiled a 2-on-1 rush to keep the lead at three, and keep the audience from raising the decibel level.<\/p>\n
Wallstadt admitted that one key to his success, especially on the road, is learning to block out the noise and the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I play my best, I kind of just see up until the top of the boards, and then you don\u2019t focus on anything else,\u201d he said. \u201cThen it just looks like the same ice and the same boards in every rink, in every game. I try to just keep telling myself this is the same game I played since I was 6 and there\u2019s nothing different to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And if the nerves start to creep in a little, more than they might have when he was skating on a youth hockey rink in Sweden, 16 years ago, it just shows \u2014 or doesn\u2019t \u2014 that the game means something to him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALLAS \u2014 The facemasks worn by hockey goalies provide important protection for their faces. They also hide their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5118],"tags":[5,1119,161,38,5280,4,43,162],"class_list":{"0":"post-556291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-wild","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-john-hynes","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-wild","12":"tag-minnesotawild","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-wild"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116433437142066710","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556291","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=556291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}