Jesper Wallstedt Finally Got To Be A Normal Goalie

When Marco Rossi scored a goal to put the Minnesota Wild ahead 1-0 in the fourth round of the shootout, all eyes went back to the other end of the ice. How would Jesper Wallstedt -- who'd already turned away Adrian Kempe, Trevor Moore, and Kevin Fiala -- hold up in a huge-pressure situation?

If the fans at Grand Casino Arena could've taken a peek into the mind of the 22-year-old Swedish goalie, though, there might not have been as much of a question.

"When we scored, I just thought to myself, 'OK, this is the moment you've been dreaming [of]," Wallstedt told the media after the game.

He was talking about the opportunity to make the huge save on Andrei Kuzmenko to give the Wild a second point against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night. But the sheer catharsis of his celebration at delivering for Minnesota made it clear that there was so much more to that save than a standings point.

For a night, at least, Wallstedt got to just play an NHL game. Not as an emergency starter, getting thrown into the fire. Not as someone trying to claw out a roster spot on a team with two goalies. He got to be a normal backup, starting a game exactly as planned, taking a game for Filip Gustavsson in a back-to-back set. 

Until Monday, almost nothing had been normal for Wallstedt. Not starting games for Luleå's top team in the Swedish Hockey League at 18. Not being among the youngest NHLers to start a game this decade back in January 2024, less than two months after his 21st birthday. And certainly not last season.

Wallstedt came to training camp last year preparing to be a rare third goalie on the Wild's roster, where he'd be less of a backup and more an apprentice to Future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury and countryman Gustavsson. That derailed almost instantly due to salary cap issues, and Wallstedt took the disappointment hard.

His numbers, playing behind a threadbare Iowa Wild defense, were ghastly. Wallstedt posted an .879 save percentage, virtually unplayable at the AHL level, let alone the NHL, and went from being a can't-miss goaltending prodigy to a near-afterthought in the prospect world.

It's hard to get higher highs or lower lows than what Wallstedt has experienced. What he needed was something much more pedestrian, something normal.

You might argue that Monday was anything but typical. The Wild protected Wallstedt early, and the young goalie was 43 minutes into a shutout bid. Then the team, up 3-0 after two periods, stopped pressing and let the Kings back into the game. LA unleashed 17 unblocked shot attempts at Wallstedt in the third period, including nine from the ultra-dangerous "Home Plate" area of the ice.

The downswing of the roller coaster started when Kevin Fiala snuck a shot past Wallstedt from the goalline. Then Quinton Byfield scored off an Adrian Kempe pass from the net to the slot on the power play. Finally, on a 6-on-5 second effort, Kempe tied the game.

Minnesota couldn't protect Wallstedt in overtime, either. A Matt Boldy penalty put LA in a 4-on-3 situation, which can be a nightmare for the goalie on the wrong end of it. Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon, and Jake Middleton defended valiantly, but Wallstedt still had to stand tall on three shots against during a hectic penalty kill.

And of course, then came the shootout.

But as much as the game shifted, nothing was out of the ordinary in a Monday night game in front of a not-quite-sold-out arena. Teams sag into defensive shells when ahead by three goals, comebacks occasionally get made, and penalties put goalies in difficult spots. That's not a nightmare season, or even a nightmare game. It's not overwhelming to handle. It's just hockey.

Wallstedt managed himself throughout those typical ups and downs, and the result was decidedly above-average. He turned away 31 of 34 shots (.912 save percentage) while allowing three goals on 3.69 expected goals. It was a refreshing slice of normalcy from a goalie who's experienced too little mundanity in his young career. If the rest of his season can stay this typical, the Wild are going to be in a perfectly fine spot in net.