The Minnesota Wild may have taken part in the most chaotic game in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. On Sunday night, the Wild played in Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche, where they trailed 3-0 early on. They then overcame it taking an eventualy 5-4 lead. However, it wasn't enough, as the Wild lost 9-6 to the Avalanche.
The Wild showed they could keep up with the Avalanche scoring wise, but they would have liked some more sound goaltending from Jesper Wallstedt. In their first round series against the Dallas Stars, Wallstedt was on fire. But on Sunday night, Wallstedt gave up eight goals on 42 shots on net. Given his struggles in net in Game 1, reporters and fans were wondering why head coach John Hynes didn't make the switch to Filip Gustavsson.
After the game, Hynes said that the loss wasn't on Wallstedt while also directing to the amount of goals that Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood gave up too.
“I thought Wally played … look what the score was,” Hynes said, h/t Joe Smith of The Athletic. “We can say it was nine. But they got the empty netter. And their guy was in for a lot of goals against, too.”
John Hynes sticks by Jesper Wallstedt after brutal Game 1 loss
Look, as great of a season that the Wild have had, the Avalanche were better. They were in first place in the Central Division and the entire Western Conference for most of the 2025-26 season. For any team to beat Colorado in the playoffs, they will need to be on the top of their game.
Hynes did make a surprising decision before the playoffs, as he went with Wallstedt over Gustavsson. It was a surprise, given that Gustavsson was the veteran, but Hynes went with the hot glove, and he was proven right. In the first round against the Stars, Wallstedt allowed a 2.30 goals allowed average and a .924 save percentage in their six game series win. With how well Wallstedt played, especially against the Stars' offense, it gave the fanbase some confidence heading into the next round.
It is only one game, so it's not exactly a costly decision to stick with Wallstedt right now. Wallstedt will have a prime chance to rebound on Tuesday night, he's proven to be a reliable option in net during the regular season and in the first round. If he does, Hynes will be proven right, If it's a repeat performance of Game 1, then Hynes may hav to make a difficult decision.
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