Minnesota Wild top prospect Jesper Wallstedt earned his first career NHL win and shutout in front of his family at United Center Sunday afternoon, making 24 saves in net en route to the Wild’s 4-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
“Now to be back here with a win and a shutout is amazing,” Wallstedt told Bally Sports North’s Kevin Gorg postgame. “Just very happy, very thankful.
“I think the team in front of me played unreal and kept a lot of the shots to the outside and let me make the first save and took care of my rebounds. So just very happy and very excited.”
Wallstedt became just the fifth rookie goalie in franchise history to record a shutout on Sunday — joining the likes of Josh Harding (three shutouts), Darcy Kuemper (two), Kaapo Kahkonen (two) and Anton Khudobin (one).
Wallstedt, at 21 and 145 days, also became the youngest goalie in Wild history to post a shutout, besting Josh Harding (age 21 and 297 days), Darcy Kuemper (23 and 252 days), Filip Gustavsson (24 and 186 days) and Kaapo Kahkonen (24 and 204 days).
The Wild played much better in front of Wallstedt compared to when they left him out to dry during his NHL debut in a 7-2 loss to the Stars in Dallas on Jan 10.
The Wild were better defensively and kept the Blackhawks to 24 shots on Sunday, while Kirill Kaprizov (two goals), Marco Rossi and Freddy Gaudreau supplied the offense to complement Wallstedt's strong play and calmness in the crease during his second NHL start.
Wallstedt wasn't tested much in the first period, facing just five shots, but he made 11 second-period stops and then had to make eight more in the final frame to earn the shutout.
As Wild coach John Hynes told the media, it was “good to see Jesper be able to play the way that he played.”
Wallstedt saved 1.69 goals above expected, according to Natural Stat Trick, which included two high-danger and eight medium-danger shots.
“He seemed a little bit more confident and comfortable in the net,” Hynes said of Wallstedt, adding that the young goalie could potentially start again sometime in the Wild's final five games remaining this season. “...He made a couple good saves early, and then I felt once he made a couple saves early and saw some pucks, you could see him settle in a little bit. He looked real solid.”
Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more