SAN JOSE, Calif. – After opening its four-game road trip Tuesday with a win, the Wild is sticking with the same lineup Thursday in San Jose.
And that includes the goalie.
Backup Alex Stalock will be back between the pipes against the Sharks after a 29-save effort in the 4-2 win over the Ducks in Anaheim.
"He's earned it," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It's never an easy decision when you're playing your backup a little bit more than normal. But he's earned this spot. His numbers indicate that he's earned it. We need the wins, so we're going to go with what we think gives us the best chance to win."
This will be just Stalock's second career game vs. the Sharks, whom he played for before joining the Wild.
That previous game was a 4-3 overtime win for the Wild on Dec.10, 2017.
"Obviously every time coming back here puts a smile on my face with a lot of the friendships I made when I was here," Stalock said. "You look back starting back in Worcester and the friendships I built there, like, with Logan [Couture] being here now and kind of growing up through pro hockey with him. Obviously, he's wearing the 'C' over there now. Just looking back on stuff like that is fun to think about."
Although it's early November, Boudreau expects Thursday's game to have a desperate vibe to it since both teams are coming off wins that ended losing streaks.
