ST. LOUIS – Marc-Andre Fleury, sporting his black Wild baseball cap backward, had a front-row seat to historical past Tuesday evening, however he was the one who planted the seed in Filip Gustavsson’s head within the first place.
Then, as if Fleury diagramed the play for his goalie accomplice himself, the St. Louis Blues’ Pavel Buchnevich cooperated absolutely with a wonderfully positioned 79-foot shot instantly towards the Wild brand on the middle of Gustavsson’s chest.
Gustavsson caught the puck together with his trapper for his twenty seventh save, dropped it in his blue crease, took goal and sailed a magnificence the size of the ice for a bull’s-eye — the ultimate purpose in a 4-1 Wild win.
It was the primary goalie purpose in workforce historical past and Gustavsson is the fifteenth goaltender in NHL common season historical past to attain a goalie purpose.
“That was surprising,” goalie coach Freddy Chabot stated on the press elevator after the sport.
“That was superior,” common supervisor Invoice Guerin stated. “You don’t see a goalie purpose every single day.”
“An influence-play purpose,” identified assistant GM Michael Murray.
GOALIE GOAL! GOALIE GOAL! GOALIE GOAL! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/NS3CsKb9ge
— NHL (@NHL) October 16, 2024
With 34 seconds left within the Blues’ dwelling opener and St. Louis making an attempt to kill a double minor, coach Drew Bannister known as timeout searching for a miracle together with his workforce down two.
Fleury had different plans.
“I known as a fast goalie assembly,” Fleury stated, laughing.
Gustavsson skated over to the bench and obtained some recommendation from the clever future Corridor of Famer.
“Flower regarded as much as the board and was like, ‘We’re up two objectives. You must in all probability attempt it for those who get the possibility. You’re taking pictures, proper?’” Gustavsson recalled. “I used to be like, ‘Yeah, possibly I ought to.’”
Gustavsson had by no means scored a purpose at any stage of hockey. He’d by no means take into account it with a one-goal lead as a result of if he missed, it will be an icing and an offensive-zone faceoff for the Blues.
“Up 2-nothing, I used to be like, ‘Yeah, if I get the possibility, I’ll attempt it,’” Gustavsson stated.
After which he obtained his likelihood.
Gustavsson figures Buchnevich was taking pictures the puck instantly at him so he’d catch it, freeze it and provides the Blues a late faceoff. However as an alternative, Buchnevich “simply put it straight within the glove and I attempted and put it down as fast as I might,” Gustavsson stated. “It simply laid good there on the ice, and I simply attempt to shoot it as laborious as I might.”
As Fleury stated, “Textbook.”
Celebrating the primary goalie purpose in @mnwild historical past! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/X5ciE7FTea
— NHL (@NHL) October 16, 2024
Chabot, the Wild’s goalie coach of 5 seasons, likes to do enjoyable issues together with his goaltenders in follow.
One of many coolest trying is when he’ll have one goalie stand instantly in entrance of the opposite to set one ginormous display. Chabot will then whistle dead-accurate photographs to the left, then to the precise, then again to the left … over and again and again on both facet of the screening goalie so the one within the crease has to struggle to search out the puck.
However probably the most enjoyable drill he conducts is goalie objectives.
Former Wild goalie Kaapo Kahkonen was a goalie purpose machine in his native Finland. Present Wild prospect Jesper Wallstedt, a fellow Swede like Gustavsson, has scored goalie objectives, too, together with with Iowa within the AHL.
“I anticipated that from Wally,” Chabot stated. “Not Gus.”
What shocked Chabot probably the most was that he has by no means seen Gustavsson in any of their practices shoot the puck as excessive as he did.
“I often complain about my curve not being the precise angle to get it that prime,” Gustavsson stated. “However I don’t know, further powers or one thing.”
Most cool, in response to ESPN, this was the third power-play purpose by a goalie in NHL historical past (Evgeni Nabokov in 2002 and Martin Brodeur in 2013). He’s the second Swede to ever rating a goalie purpose, in response to NHL Stats (Linus Ullmark in 2023).
Hilariously, Guerin walked into the locker room to congratulate Gustavsson, then requested Fleury if he had ever scored one. Fleury knew full nicely his former Penguins teammate knew he had not, then cracked up and threw a towel on the Wild boss.
After he scored, Gustavsson was mobbed by his teammates on the ice — Brock Faber, Jonas Brodin, Marcus Foligno, Yakov Trenin and Marat Khusnutdinov.
Jakub Lauko’s first Wild purpose is a shorthanded magnificence. 2-0 #mnwild pic.twitter.com/gLS19TpTcs
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 16, 2024
Jakub Lauko, who scored the game-winning short-handed purpose within the second interval for his first purpose with the Wild, wished to affix the pile from the bench. There have been solely 9 seconds left within the sport, however he figured it was towards the foundations and determined to remain put.
Fortunately for him, Gustavsson skated to the bench and did a fist-bump flyby together with his blocker. The primary particular person he greeted was a smiling, proud Fleury.
“Props to him,” Lauko stated. “It’s fairly spectacular, and he deserves it. It might have been nicer at dwelling, with a full barn, however you understand it’s an unbelievable second. I’m simply pleased for him.”
Gustavsson’s purpose was the Wild’s fourth power-play purpose of the season. He joked that he wished to assist push the facility play over 20 %, however he really pushed it to 30.8 %.
“Ought to in all probability be within the energy play conferences now,” Gustavsson stated.
Wild coach John Hynes has seen a goalie purpose earlier than. Whereas teaching Nashville, Pekka Rinne scored one in Chicago.
“It was certainly one of my first couple video games in Nashville,” he recalled. “However it was virtually similar to Gus’s. It was form of a six-on-five state of affairs and form of dumped in on the goalie and he had time to have the ability to do it and you might inform each guys … had been going for it. Nice to see.”
With the Wild taking part in seven defensemen and never taking part in once more till in Columbus on Saturday, Kirill Kaprizov logged 27:59 of ice time — the second-most in his NHL profession. In line with ESPN, it was the sixth-most by a ahead who had no photographs in a sport since 2000-01.
However Kaprizov was terrific, having two lovely assists on objectives by Ryan Hartman and Marco Rossi. He leads 2-0-2 Minnesota, which hasn’t trailed in any sport, with six factors.
Kaprizov has one purpose, nevertheless, and volunteered that he’s tied in objectives with the Wild’s No. 1 goalie: “Similar (variety of) objectives like numerous guys.”
“It’s in all probability not gonna be for lengthy,” Gustavsson stated.
The irony about Tuesday is earlier than the season, it’s believed the Wild had the Blues sport slated for Wallstedt’s season debut. However the Wild are inundated with accidents to Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon and Marcus Johansson, so Wallstedt needed to be despatched to Iowa to make room for callup Daemon Hunt. Plus, Gustavsson is taking part in so nicely, they want Wallstedt to get some practices and sport motion someplace and proper now it might probably’t be Minnesota.
The Wild wish to get Wallstedt extra video games within the NHL this season than the three he obtained final 12 months, however the secret is successful and if Gustavsson retains racking up victories, he ought to get the majority of the taking part in time.
If the Wild wish to get again into the playoffs this season, they want the “Gus Bus” to look and play just like the goalie of two years in the past who completed with the second-best save share and goals-against common within the NHL and never the one which floundered final season to a sub-.900 save share.
Thus far in three begins, he’s 2-0-1 with a 1.66 goals-against common and .948 save share. He labored laborious this offseason, got here again to Minnesota in tip-top form and has improved upon his follow habits.
“I don’t assume I do something particular on the market,” he stated. “(I’m not) flashy. Clearly, I make some greater saves, however that’s often while you’re out of place. I simply attempt to be in the precise place more often than not and make boring saves. And I believe that’s been working superb up to now.”
Good, like within the second interval after Lauko’s short-handed purpose the place he preserved a 2-0 lead by sprawling throughout his crease to rob Jordan Kyrou.
“Clearly everyone knows on the finish of final 12 months (Gustavsson) wasn’t pleased and nobody was proud of what had gone on,” Hynes stated. “He put some laborious work on this summer season and he’s come again in I believe the precise mindset and discovered his classes from final 12 months and now he’s are available and he’s taking part in actual strong and also you want that.
“Early within the 12 months generally it’s robust to win for those who don’t get sturdy goaltending as a result of the video games are slightly bit scattered as everybody’s making an attempt to get used to the NHL tempo, there’s generally breakdowns, methods aren’t completely dialed in the place they must be so when you will get actually high quality goaltending early, it provides you the very best likelihood to win.”
Goalie objectives assist, too.
Gus making Wild historical past 👏 pic.twitter.com/lnjSeLQikN
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 16, 2024
(Photograph: Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Pictures)
