The Minnesota Wild lost perhaps the most chaotic playoff game this season. Despite scoring six goals on Sunday night, they still lost 9-6 to the Colorado Avalanche. After the game, the focus was on starting goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, who allowed eight goals on 42 shots faced. This was a far cry of a performance for Wallstedt, who was stellar for the team in their first-round series against the Dallas Stars.
Despite this, head coach John Hynes and Wild players stood behind Wallstedt, insisting that it was a blip on the radar.
In the hours leading up to Game 2 on Tuesday, Hynes announced that he was making a change in goal. Instead of Wallstedt getting the start, Hynes is instead going to Filip Gustavsson.
Filip Gustavsson starting tonight for #mnwild. Gametime decisions on lineup
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) May 5, 2026
John Hynes benches Jesper Wallstedt for Filip Gustavsson for Game 2
Hynes said he never considered pulling Wallstedt during Game 1, citing that Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood gave up six goals on 36 shots faced. Now, hours before Game 2, Hynes decided that Wallstedt would not get the start and instead go with the veteran Gustavsson.
After announcing his decision, Hynes called both Gustavsson and Wallstedt "excellent" and that they can win with either of them. But he wants to give Gustavsson a chance in net.
“We think it’s a good opportunity to get Gus in the net. He’s hungry to get in. I think he dealt with not playing for a while. Obviously, Wally played very well, our team won and continued to go through, but we’ve got another excellent goalie that’s hungry to get back in the net," said Hynes, h/t The Athletic.
Given that Gustavsson was the veteran on the roster, the expectation heading into the playoffs was that he would get the start in the first round. Instead, Hynes went with Wallstedt, who had been the better goalie since the team's return from the Olympic break. In 14 games, Wallstedt posted a 2.80 goals allowed average and a .895 save percentage. As for Wallstedt, he had a 2.00 goals allowed average and a .919 save percentage in 12 regular season games.
Gustavsson hadn't played since Apr. 13, so Hynes is taking a gamble by starting him against an Avalanche team that can put up goals with ease. We'll see if his goaltending decision will pay off.
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