Niklas Backstrom gets it, but that doesn't make suddenly riding shotgun to Josh Harding every night any easier.
Backstrom is the only goaltender in NHL history to earn his first three victories in relief, so he has experienced life as a backup before. In fact, it took Jacques Lemaire so long to trust the then-unknown Backstrom in 2006 that he didn't make his first career start until six weeks and 16 games into his breakout rookie season.
That was seven seasons ago, though. Backstrom has grown accustomed to being the Wild's No. 1 goaltender ever since, the franchise's career leader with 185 victories and 375 appearances to prove it.
But Backstrom, 35, has started five games this season. Harding relieved the injured Backstrom on Oct. 8 in Nashville and hasn't relinquished the net yet.
Harding has started 12 of the past 15 games and leads the NHL with a 1.22 goals-against average and .947 save percentage, having allowed 16 goals in 14 games. The only two games Backstrom has started in this stretch — a home-and-home with the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks — was when Harding was nursing a hamstring injury.
So whether the Wild wants to label it or not, Harding has taken the reins as the Wild's No. 1 goaltender for the first time in his career.
"He's playing great. It's fun to watch," said Backstrom, whose NHL career began because of a training camp injury to Harding in 2006. "Every guy who has been in this locker room knows what kind of long, bumpy road it has been for him. So it's fun to see it pay off really good. We're winning. That's the only thing that matters."
Yet on Saturday morning, after Backstrom found out he wasn't starting against Carolina, he conspicuously huddled with goalie coach Bob Mason for about 20 minutes.