Wallstedt Game – Minnesota makes a goalie change for Game 3, bringing back Jesper Wallstedt as the Avalanche lead 2-0 after a 5-2 win.
Minnesota’s path back into the second-round series begins tonight with a goalie change that’s meant to tighten everything in front of them.. Wild coach John Hynes is going back to starter Jesper Wallstedt for Game 3 against the Colorado Avalanche. who hold a commanding 2-0 lead after beating Minnesota 5-2 in Denver on Tuesday.
Hynes confirmed after the morning skate that Wallstedt will replace backup Filip Gustavsson. framing the decision around both readiness and recovery.. He said Wallstedt had been a little tired after the opener. while Gustavsson got his chance to play. leaving the plan as focused on getting the right goalie in the net for the situation.. Hynes also emphasized that the move isn’t about drama. but about doing what’s right for the team and the goaltending group.
The swap comes with pressure on Minnesota to respond quickly.. After the Wild dropped the series opener 9-6 in a shootout loss on Sunday. the Avalanche seized another advantage in Game 2. where Gustavsson’s first playoff start included concerns on two of the four goals he allowed.. Minnesota’s immediate challenge is clear: it has to stop being out-goaltended if it wants to claw back against a Colorado group that is already playing at a high level.
Wallstedt arrives with momentum from his previous work. including Minnesota’s six-game run against the Dallas Stars in the first round.. That performance is part of the reason Hynes’ decision to start Gustavsson at the beginning of this series stood out. and why going back to Wallstedt now signals that the Wild want a steadier baseline between the pipes.
Colorado’s side is approaching Game 3 with its own certainty about personnel, even as it remains cautious publicly about others.. The Wild’s opponent. the Avalanche. was described as having Scott Wedgewood as its playoff starter. and the report highlighted Colorado’s post-season form as it continues to roll with a 6-0 record.. Meanwhile. Colorado coach Jared Bednar did not confirm his Game 3 starter. but he did indicate that Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Cale Makar will play after taking a “maintenance” day earlier in the week.
Wallstedt. for his part. said he would be ready for Game 3 and pointed to the timing of giving Gustavsson a start.. He noted that the decision made sense in the moment. and he emphasized that there were no hard feelings about his role shifting again.. Wallstedt also treated Game 1 as a learning experience. saying he has played Colorado before and that the opening game felt different. adding that Minnesota will reset and address what didn’t go right.
Asked about how Wallstedt could bounce back, Hynes did not focus on the idea of reacting to one tough outing.. Instead. he pointed to what Wallstedt had already done earlier in the playoffs. highlighting that the goalie had produced six strong games in the first round and helped win that series.. In Hynes’ view. it was a single misstep rather than a pattern. and he framed Minnesota’s mindset around balancing the sting of the loss with confidence built from earlier success.
Beyond the goalie switch. the night also features injury uncertainty and a spotlight on the Wild’s defensive structure and special teams.. Minnesota enters Game 3 dealing with the status of key players. and the report’s injury notes suggest that Hynes is looking at multiple adjustments just to stabilize pairings.
The most immediate lineup news concerns Joel Eriksson Ek.. Despite his participation being limited to a one-legged effort at practice before he left the ice visibly limping. Hynes said Eriksson Ek will not play tonight.. The forward remains “day to day. ” and he could be an option for Game 4 on Monday. depending on how his recovery progresses.
There is also concern around Jonas Brodin. who was injured in the fifth game against Dallas and whose availability is not indicated for the current series.. Brodin’s absence has already disrupted Minnesota’s second defensive pairing. with the report noting that a new combination between Jake Middleton and Jared Spurgeon has been hit hard by Colorado. allowing nine goals against across the first two games.
With that in mind, Hynes said he plans to reshuffle the blue line again for tonight. Daemon Hunt is expected to play alongside Spurgeon, while Middleton would move to the third pairing with Zach Bogosian, who returns after missing one game due to a lower-body injury.
Special teams are another major pressure point for Minnesota heading into Game 3.. The report pointed to the penalty kill as a visible weakness. noting that it has surrendered three goals to Colorado on seven chances. leaving it with a playoff success rate of 59.4 percent.. That number is described as the worst on record for a second-round team since the NHL began tracking penalty killing in 1978. underscoring how costly even small lapses have been.
On the Avalanche’s side, Colorado coach Bednar again did not confirm availability details for injured defenseman Josh Manson.. The uncertainty adds another layer to how both teams shape their matchups. especially with Colorado already managing maintenance and lineup considerations around key contributors like Makar.
For Minnesota, the overarching objective is to slow the surge without relying on a single fix.. A return to Wallstedt is meant to bring more stability in goal. but the Wild also need their structure to hold up defensively. their penalty kill to prevent momentum swings. and their lineup to function despite injuries affecting the back end.. If those pieces don’t tighten quickly, Colorado’s advantage in the series could grow even further.
Meanwhile, the Avalanche will aim to keep applying pressure across every phase.. Their postseason record and the scoring they’ve generated—along with the confidence of getting stars like Makar back in the lineup—set the tone for a Game 3 that could be defined by whether Minnesota can reduce mistakes and stop conceding scoring opportunities in the moments that matter most.
Wallstedt Game 3 Minnesota Wild Colorado Avalanche Filip Gustavsson Cale Makar NHL playoffs