ST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild (1-1-0) is set to host the Los Angeles Kings (1-2-0) for a 7:00 tilt. Both teams have reveled the starting goaltenders for tonights matchup.
Jesper Wallstedt will start for the Wild tonight. He will be making his sixth career start and first of the season. The Wild play the Dallas Stars in Dallas on Tuesday so Filip Gustavsson will get the second of the back-to-back.
"I think Wally's had a good summer physically and I think mentally prepared for the season," Wild head coach John Hynes said on Wallstedt. "I think he's had a good camp. I've seen the maturity in his game and the way that he practices, the intensity level, the details that he practices with, and then I think he's played well in the game. So he's ready. He's put the hard work in. He's always the guy that we expect to play well. So I'm excited to see him play tonight and he's certainly prepared to have a good outing."
It wasn't the best season for Wallstedt last year. He played in two NHL games and went 0-2-0 with a 4.09 goals-against average and a .843 save percentage. He went 9-14-5 in the AHL with the Iowa Wild last year and had a 3.59 goals-against average and a .879 save percentage.
He has never faced the Kings in his career.
Darcy Kuemper will start tonight for the Kings. He started two of the three games against the Wild last year for the Kings and went 1-1-0 with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.
In 14 career starts against the Wild, Kuemper has gone 5-7-1 with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. He is 0-2-0 on the year with a 3.63 goals-against average and a .860 save percentage.
Kuemper is looking to bounce back tonight against his former team. He played 102 games with Minnesota across five seasons and was the Wild's 161st pick from the 2009 NHL Draft.
