Jesper Wallstedt’s strong play makes Wild goaltending situation ultra competitive

The Wild don’t have a controversy in their crease.

They have competition.

In today’s NHL, where scoring is up and saves are down, that’s not a liability. That’s a luxury.

“It looks like a good recipe right now,” coach John Hynes said.

After rookie Jesper Wallstedt led the Wild to a 4-3 shootout win over NHL second-best Carolina on Wednesday night despite his nearly three-hour shutout streak ending, Hynes indicated he anticipates the rotation the Wild have been relying on with their goaltenders will continue.

All the justification the Wild need is their results.

Since bottoming out with that Oct. 30 loss to Pittsburgh and a subsequent players-only heart-to-heart, Wallstedt and veteran Filip Gustavsson have contributed almost equally to the 7-1-1 turnaround.

“It just bleeds confidence throughout the lineup, especially as a D-man,” Brock Faber said. “When you turn pucks over and they go in the back of the net, it’s the worst feeling in the world. When you turn pucks over and they stop it for you, it’s so much easier to reset and be positive after that. Go and give them a tap and move on.

“Obviously, you can’t expect that to happen every time. However, when that has happened in this stretch, the majority of the time those pucks have stayed out of our net, and that’s a huge credit to them.”

This isn’t the NFL where having two quarterbacks implies neither is in charge.

The schedule in the NHL is too demanding and hectic to stick with one netminder, a shift in the league that’s been ongoing for years; the last goalie to start more than 70 games was Cam Talbot with Edmonton in 2016-17.

Until the NHL breaks for the Olympics in February, the longest the Wild will go between games is the Dec. 24-26 holiday pause, and next season the league is adding two more games to expand to 84.

“But this [split] does allow the guy that’s not playing to get some good time with [goaltending coach Frederic Chabot] and work on their game, and they’re, I think, physically and mentally ready to play when they’re in.”

That’s how the Wild got here, with Wallstedt mostly practicing through the first month of the season. In October, the 27-year-old Gustavsson signed a five-year, $34 million contract extension that runs through 2031 and signaled he was the No. 1 netminder.

But since a Nov. 7 win on the road vs. the Islanders, Wallstedt has been ultra-sharp: The 23-year-old posted back-to-back shutouts, the only goalie in the NHL currently with two, and was taming the Hurricanes and their third-ranked offense until a deflection by Jackson Blake more than halfway through the second period.

Carolina overcame a two-goal deficit in the third after Blake scored again, this time on a shot that squeaked under Wallstedt’s pad. But Wallstedt, who makes $2.2 million this season, was clutch in crunch time, denying a Blake breakaway in overtime before stopping all three attempts in the shootout.

He’s 5-0-2 with the best save percentage in the league (.926) and third-lowest goals-against average (2.20).

“He deserves to be playing like this. He’s very capable of it.”

Drafted during the first round in 2021 out of Sweden for his technique, Wallstedt is playing to his pedigree.

Pucks are sticking to him and when they aren’t, he’s been quick to cover up rebounds. The fact shots are flying into him is a nod to his right-place, right-time positioning.

“I want to make it look easy,” he said. “I want to more so make it look like I’m getting hit than making saves. When the puck comes to me, that’s usually a good sign instead of me chasing the puck.”

Call them colleagues or collaborators or even a committee, but don’t confuse Wallstedt and Gustavsson both contending to start for a concern.

“I want to push Gus,” Wallstedt said, “and we’re having so much fun in practice, pushing each other and getting better. So, why wouldn’t we do that?”

The Wild has a weeklong, three-day road trip that begins Friday night in Pittsburgh, and they’ll be without some key players.