Wild coach Mike Yeo completed his pregame availability about 30 minutes ago and he explained his reasoning for coming back with Darcy Kuemper.
Kuemper enters tonight's game with two wins in his past eight starts and has allowed three or more goals in five of his past seven.
"Good goalies have games when they're not at their best, they have stretches when they're not at their best, but good goalies find a way to bounce back, find a way to get on top of their game," Yeo said. "That's his challenge. This is as important to his development as a player as it is to our team."
That's because not only does the Wild have to figure out if Kuemper's got the ability to be its No. 1 goalie next season, it's got to figure out if he has got what it takes to be ridden during the playoffs.
"Coming in against a team like St. Louis, in their building, coming off the heels of a tough game, these are the kind of emotions and things that can get in your head that you have to deal with [in the postseason]," Yeo said. "For a goalie to be successful in the playoffs, they have to be able to deal with that stuff.
"He's shown that he has the mental makeup."
He said this is another opportunity to prove it. He said hopefully that's tonight, but he did make clear this is not some precondition that he must win tonight or else.
Yeo said the Wild has full faith in Kuemper because of the way he helped rescue its season when Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom were sidelined.