ST. PAUL, Minn – Despite what some visiting broadcasts think, rookie Minnesota Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt is not going to change up his postgame win celebration any time soon.
It has become his thing and something no other goalie does.
“There’s no reason to change, I don’t think,” Wallstedt said postgame. “I think I now look as much forward to do it as maybe the fans do seeing it, so that one’s not going anywhere.”
Wallstedt, 23, made 39 saves in a 3-2 shootout win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday to end the Avs’ streak of ten wins in a row.
The rookie net minder now leads the league in goals-against average (1.93), save percentage (.938) and shutouts (3). He is 7-0-2 on the season and has yet to lose in regulation. Wallstedt is now 6-0-0 in his last six starts with a 1.14 goals-against average, a .967 save percentage and three shutouts.
Colorado came into Friday’s game against the rookie goaltender with ten-straight wins. After stopping three shots in overtime and 39 overall, the Wild and the Avs went to a shootout.
Wallstedt entered the shootout 7-for-7 and left the win going 2-for-3. Only Martin Necas scored on Wallstedt.
After Matt Boldy beat Scott Wedgewood, who leads the NHL in wins, Wallstedt had to make a save to win it. After stopping the NHL’s leading goal-scorer and point getter, Nathan MacKinnon, Wallstedt was tasked with stopping the NHL’s leading point getter among defenseman, Cale Makar.
The Wall of St. Paul stood tall and handed the Avalanche their first loss in 11 games and first since Nov, 1.
“I just let them make the first move I guess. MacKinnon, it’s hard when he starts chopping the puck there with his stick, he goes fast. I’ve never played him before. I’ve never seen something like that before either. So it was fun. It’s definitely, it’s where you want to be; you want to compete against the best players,” Wallstedt said on the thought process in the shootout. “I love shootouts, and doing that against the best shootout takers in the world are pretty special. I felt like I had a good read on both, or on all three really but lost my edge on the first one. So otherwise I would have saved it.”
Wallstedt has three wins in three shootouts this year and has allowed one goal on ten attempts. In all three of those he has done the same celebration of shooting an arrow before his team mobs him.
Where did it come from?
“I have no idea. I think I’ve kind of seen it probably when I was younger in the NHL or somewhere else. I thought it looked cool,” Wallstedt said. “I don’t think a lot of other goalies do it right now so maybe it’s my thing right now.”
But, 92.5 FM Denver’s Altitude Sports Radio is not a fan.
“Makar tried to go five hole, save made by Wallstedt and he celebrates like he’s won the Stanley Cup. He has not.”
Wallstedt may not have won the Stanley Cup but he did just beat the best team in the World, as Conor McGahey said on the call, after stopping the best player in the World and the best defenseman in the World to end the Avalanche’s ten-game winning streak.
They can call Wallstedt’s celebration whatever they want, but the rookie just joined a long list of Minnesota players who’ve sent Colorado home unhappy. For a franchise that’s been bounced twice in unforgettable Game 7 fashion (2003 and 2014), you’d think a simple arrow pose would barely crack the top 10 most painful moments.
If anything, Wallstedt kept it respectful. Maybe he could’ve pantomimed the whole 2003 handshake line or Andrew Brunette’s celebration, when the Wild beat one of the best rosters ever constructed, and Colorado fans would’ve recognized the choreography instantly.
Wallstedt’s performance this year has even sparked a t-shirt that the whole team wore before the game on Friday.
As for where it came from or if he had expected it, Wallstedt had no idea.
“No idea. I saw it on Instagram or something, I got tagged in it I think. And I thought it looked sick. And then I kind of, definitely did not expect it to be in the locker room. Kind of a weird feeling. I got in here and I’m like, ‘I asked Ekker, am I supposed to wear it or is that kind of weird wearing your own shirt?’ Yeah so I ended up not wearing it,” Wallstedt said.
It is so sweet, even head coach John Hynes wants to get his hands on one.
“No, I saw all the T-shirts around but I’m going to have to get one. I didn’t get one before the game but maybe now.”
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