Jesper Wallstedt will make his second straight start as the Minnesota Wild host the Boston Bruins in their home opener Saturday night.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Wild (1-0-0) will turn back to Jesper Wallstedt for Saturday night's home opener against the Boston Bruins (2-0-0).
Wallstedt will make his second consectutive start after helping Minnesota open the season with a 3-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
The 23-year-old stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced against Nashville, finishing the night with a .950 save percentage. Minnesota also went a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill in front of him. 
Saturday will mark Wallstedt’s first career appearance against Boston. The Wild are currently without Filip Gustavsson, leaving Wallstedt and Calvin Pickard as Minnesota’s goaltending tandem.
At the other end, Michael DiPietro is expected to get the start for the Bruins after Jeremy Swayman started Friday night.
DiPietro, 27, is coming off a strong 2025-26 season in the American Hockey League, where he posted a 34-8-1 record with a 1.91 goals-against average, .930 save percentage and was named league MVP.
In his NHL career, DiPietro is 0-2-0 with a 5.01 goals-against average and a .780 save percentage.
That sets up an intriguing early-season matchup in net as Wallstedt looks to build off a strong season debut and help the Wild improve to 2-0-0.
See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.


