Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson made history Tuesday night, scoring an empty-net goal and making 27 saves in a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.
It was the first goal scored by a Wild goaltender in franchise history. Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal, and it was the 18th goalie goal ever (Martin Brodeur scored three times, while Ron Hextall had two).
With Minnesota up 3-1 and 15 seconds to go in the game, Gustavsson stopped a Pavel Buchevich slap shot then fired a full-length shot towards the Blues’ empty net, crossing the red line and giving the Wild a 4-1 win, along with the netminder his own place in NHL history.
Gustavsson is now 2-0-1 with a .948 save percentage (SV%) and 1.66 goals against average (GAA) in three appearances.
Through five NHL seasons, Gustavsson has a 54-39-16 record with a .913 SV% and 2.70 GAA in 114 appearances with the Wild and Ottawa Senators.
Drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Gustavsson spent two more seasons developing in Sweden’s top professional hockey league with Lulea HF.
In 2018, Gustavsson was traded to the Senators, along with Ian Cole, a first-round pick and a third-round pick in exchange for Derick Brassard. He would spend parts of five seasons with their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, posting a 45-39-8 record with an .898 SV% and 3.06 GAA in 95 appearances.
The Wild are 2-0-2 in four games, third in the Central Division. Forward Kirill Kaprizov has a goal and five assists for six points, while Matthew Boldy has two goals and three assists for five points.
Last season, Minnesota went 39-33-10 with 87 points, sixth in the division and 11 points shy of a playoff spot.
