Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt finding his legs in NHL

There is little doubt that Filip Gustavsson is at the top of the Wild s goaltender tandem after signing a five-year million contract extension in October But after struggling last season in the NHL and AHL backup Jesper Wallstedt has played well in his five starts Wallstedt in fact improved to - - after backstopping the Wild s - accomplishment over Calgary on Sunday in the second of his first consecutive starts of the season His goals-against average and save percentage are better than Gustavsson s but that s a little deceiving When the Wild played a heavyweight Gustavsson got the call Calgary in fact is the worst group in the NHL right now by four points and Wallstedt s five opponents are all ranked eighth or lower in their conference the Flames Islanders Sharks Flyers and Kings It was a cunning move for coach John Hynes to give Gustavsson an extra break with the Flames in town Still Wallstedt the th overall pick in the draft was terrific on Sunday while earning his second career shutout The Sharks led by top pick Macklin Celebrini are tied with Minnesota for th in the West It s a lot of confidence from getting back-to-back starts he reported after stopping all of the Flames shots on goal at Grand Casino Arena Obviously that means a lot I knew it was a big opportunity to go out there and obviously try to make a difference Hynes declared Sunday that Gustavsson was in line to start Tuesday against San Jose in St Paul He has started of the Wild s games this season Gus has been playing a lot Hynes noted after Sunday s morning skate So give him a little bit of time to work with goalie coach Freddy Chabot here and get him ready for Tuesday That s heavy Yakov Trenin retained his hold on the NHL s hits lead with four in Sunday s win over the Flames giving him Linemate Marcus Foligno had two moving him into eighth place with The Wild are the only NHL band with two players among the Top in hits There s heavy hockey in this league and heavy hockey on this squad still and it s a big factor Foligno mentioned Briefly Kirill Kaprizov s empty-netter on Sunday was his th four behind first-place Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon Kaprizov tied for sixth with points seven behind league leader MacKinnon