Filip Gustavsson had one of his most disappointing starts of the season for the Minnesota Wild in a start against the Ottawa Senators. Going up against his former team, the Wild goalie faced 52 shots and allowed six goals. While the entire team struggled, he especially looked out of sorts during the game.
In his most recent start for the Wild, however, Gustavsson bounced back in spectacular fashion. Minnesota took on the Carolina Hurricanes in a matchup of playoff-bound teams. Desperately needing a win, Gustavsson was their best player and backstopped the team to a 2-1 victory.
The Wild goalie stopped 37 of 38 shots against him from the dynamic Hurricanes offense. He was locked in from the opening puck drop, making scoring chances look routine and shutting down any Carolina surges. For the 26-year-old goalie, he was eager to put together a winning start after the embarrassing performance in Ottawa and spoke about it following their victory over the Hurricanes.
"We watched that game [against Ottawa]." he said. "It’s hopefully a one-off and it’s never going to happen again because it was kind of embarrassing."
He certainly shed that embarrassment with this start against the Hurricanes. The entire team stepped up their game in front of him as well and it only fueled Gustavsson's performance.
"Today it was like you felt a little intensity in the room," he said. "And then we got a goal there from (Yakov) Trenin and you know, got some blood in the water there and the team really got going again and felt like we came back to how we normally play."
The win was a huge one for the Wild, who have had a rough few weeks. The team is 5-5-0 in the last 10 games, but is hoping to use this win over a powerful Hurricanes team as a stepping stone towards their 2025 postseason run.
