John Curry Recalled, Niklas Backstrom on IR
For the third time in December, the Minnesota Wild have recalled goaltender John Curry to serve as an insurance policy with a goaltender out.
Curry’s recall is the result of Niklas Backstrom being placed on IR retroactive to December 21, when his battle with the stomach virus going around the team began. Seven players on the Wild have missed time due to this virus, a completely separate illness than the mumps that destroyed the Wild blue line for the first quarter of the season.
It should come as no surprise that Curry will be sitting on the bench Saturday night, backing up Darcy Kuemper, who was scheduled to start. It was the plan before the break to give Kuemper this game, hoping that he could “shut off his brain” over the break and use the time away as a reset button. Kuemper has struggled this season and currently sits with the second worst adjusted save percentage in the NHL among goaltenders who have played at least 240 minutes with an AdjSV% of 88.27. (The Islanders’ Chad Johnson is the owner of the worst AdjSV% at 87.33.)
More from Wild News
- Defenseman Matt Dumba signs one-year contract with Arizona
- Minnesota Wild reach agreement with Brandon Duhaime on one-year contract
- Minnesota Wild receive mixed grades for picks in NHL Entry Draft
- Minnesota Wild draft heavy on centers and home-state selections
- Minnesota Wild open regular season at home against Stanley Cup Finalist
Backstrom is one of seven players for the Wild who has been knocked out by the stomach virus filtering through the team. Jason Zucker will also miss Saturday’s game with the virus.
Curry has played well recently. He’s missed some time with Iowa giving Johan Gustafsson some starts and got yanked from an impressive performance on December 16 after stopping 33 of 33 shots against when it became clear that Kuemper would be out with the stomach virus and that the team would be recalling Curry. Iowa had to pull Curry from the game to keep him healthy.
Curry got the start in last night’s Iowa Wild game where Iowa beat a very strong Rockford IceHogs team 2-1. Curry stopped 37 of 38 IceHogs shots to earn the win.
Curry still hasn’t appeared in a NHL game this season, but is 5-6-0-0 for Iowa with a .917 SV%.
Give Ben Remington’s game preview for Saturday a read here.