Despite early goals allowed, Jesper Wallstedt shut down the opposition with critical saves, sparking the Wild's dramatic comeback victory.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The start was not what Jesper Wallstedt and the Minnesota Wild (30-14-10) wanted against the Chicago Blackhawks (21-23-9).
But by the time the Wild skated off the ice, Wallstedt had delivered exactly the kind of performance that can change the feel of a season for him.
After surrendering two goals in the opening period and another on a perfect shot in the second, Wallstedt stayed with the game as Minnesota pushed back.
The Wild erased a three-goal deficit and got huge saves from their young rookie netminder.
“I make that save nine times out of 10 times, but I didn’t,” Wallstedt said of the second-period goal by Ilya Mikheyev.
“That happens. And then you just got to move on from it.”
He did exactly that.
Wallstedt stopped the next 18 shots including 11 shots he faced on the penalty kill and five in overtime while Minnesota was shorthanded, helping force a shootout.
"He had to continue to battle, yeah, which he did," Wild head coach John Hynes said on Wallstedt. "I thought he settled in and obviously came up big for us the rest of the game from there."
The performance was built on patience and trust, both in himself and in the group in front of him.
Not only did Wallstedt have confidence in himself but he had confidence in his team to pull him out of that.
“It’s never the position you want to be in, but it happens,” Wallstedt said. “We are a very strong group. The guys are super resilient. Going out in the third, we knew our best periods are usually the third.”
Wallstedt acknowledged there were moments he wanted back, but emphasized the response mattered more.
“There’s one I should’ve saved,” he said. “But the team had my back and got us back. As soon as it’s 3-3, you’re right back in it.”
For Wallstedt, the night also reflected growth shaped by adversity.
“I think the experiences I had last year were meant to happen,” he said. “It only made me stronger. The ups and downs are easier when you’ve been through stuff before.”
Hynes agreed.
"That’s something that you want to see from a goaltender. I think it’s important for him to push through that, but it’s important for him I think, in the relationship with the team, that he’s going to hang in there and continue to battle. I thought after that, he made some huge, huge saves for us and competed. And that’s what you need. That kind of galvanizes the team a bit as well. And I thought the group fed off of that and then we pushed back and found a way to get it done."
With the Olympics approaching and only a handful of games remaining, Wallstedt said the focus now is simple: stay present.
“I feel like my game is still in a good spot,” he said. “It feels good to get a win. I just try to enjoy and take care of every game that’s left.”
It wasn’t perfect, but Wallstedt stayed composed and was clutch when the Wild needed him.
For a young goalie navigating pressure, noise, and expectation, it may have been exactly the response Minnesota needed from Wallstedt.
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