The Minnesota Wild’s 4-3 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday night did more than waste a pair of two-goal leads. It pulled the curtain back on a bigger question that’s hanging over the team: what does the goaltending picture look like once everyone is healthy?
For now, the Wild are still waiting on Filip Gustavsson, who is working his way back from offseason hip surgery. In the meantime, Calvin Pickard got the nod against the Lightning and turned aside 30 shots in his third start of the season and first home appearance for Minnesota. He didn’t finish the night with the win, but the loss wasn’t as simple as pinning everything on the goalie.
Minnesota came out flying at Grand Casino Arena. Blake Coleman scored just 55 seconds in, and Maxim Shabanov followed with a power-play goal at 2:58 to make it 2-0. After Tampa Bay trimmed the margin, Shabanov struck again at 6:49 of the third period to push the Wild back in front by two.
That should have been enough to close it out. Instead, Tampa Bay kept coming. Charle-Edouard D’Astous tied the game with 3:31 left in regulation, and Nikita Kucherov ended it with a power-play goal at 3:23 of overtime.
The late collapse was ugly, but it came with some important context. Tampa Bay scored three power-play goals, including the winner, and Minnesota was playing the second night of a back-to-back.
Fatigue, frustration, and penalties all fed into the finish. Pickard made difficult stops that helped the Wild stay ahead for stretches before the game slipped away.
That’s why this can’t be reduced to one rough result in net. Minnesota needed a save at the right moment, sure, but it also needed to avoid putting its goalie in so many high-danger spots against a dangerous power play.
Gustavsson’s return could change the equation in a major way. He has yet to play this season after surgery, and his next doctor’s appointment is set for November 17.
If his recovery keeps moving in the right direction, he could be cleared then. That’s not a promise, just a checkpoint.
If Gustavsson is ready, Minnesota suddenly has another proven option. Jesper Wallstedt has started 16 of the Wild’s first 18 games, and Gustavsson’s track record gives the team a far more established alternative than asking Wallstedt to carry so much of the load alone. Gustavsson made at least 43 starts in each of the previous three seasons, which is exactly the kind of stability Minnesota has been missing.
The upside is obvious: more balance, less strain on Wallstedt, and better cover when the schedule tightens up. But there’s still a major hurdle before any of that matters. Gustavsson has to prove his hip can handle game action, and getting medical clearance is not the same thing as getting back to peak form.
In the short term, the simplest path is to keep Gustavsson and Wallstedt together. Pickard signed a one-year deal to be Minnesota’s third goalie and stepped into the backup role because Gustavsson was unavailable. Once Gustavsson is healthy, he would likely take Pickard’s place on the active roster.
There’s another route, though: Minnesota could trade Gustavsson and keep Pickard if the club decides Wallstedt’s workload, roster flexibility, or a strong return makes that the better move. That’s a possibility, not a sign that anything is close.
In Other News...
Wild Waste Big Night From Maxim Shabanov In Painful Collapse
Maxim Shabanov gave the Wild a night worth remembering for most of regulation, scoring twice as Minnesota kept its point streak alive and looked positioned to leave Tampa Bay with another strong result. The rookies breakout performance fit the kind of depth scoring that has helped keep Minnesota rolling, and for a long stretch it appeared the Wild had done enough to turn his big night into a road win.
Instead, the finish turned cruel. Tampa Bay erased the cushion late in the third period and forced overtime before Nikita Kucherov ended it on the power play for a 4-3 Lightning victory, with Jake Guentzel driving the comeback with two goals and an assist. For Minnesota, the point streak reached eight games, but the collapse left Shabanovs effort feeling like a footnote instead of the headline. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa Wild Have Some Intriguing Names Trending Up On This Road Trip
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The scoring came in a timely way, with three goals overall and two of them arriving in the second period to swing the momentum. For a club trying to sort out which names are starting to trend up, this was the kind of performance that stands out on a road trip, and it leaves Iowa heading into its next matchup against the Rockford IceHogs with a little more intrigue around several players worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Suddenly Have An Even Bigger Reason For Optimism
The win over San Jose gave Minnesota a milestone night at Grand Casino Arena, where the Wild picked up their 1000th regular-season victory with a 4-1 result and got another big offensive push from Kirill Kaprizov. He finished with four points, including his NHL-leading 16th goal, while Quinn Hughes added three points in a game that kept the building buzzing and reinforced how dangerous this group can be when its top end is rolling.
Brock Fabers progress only adds to the sense that the Wild may be getting a boost beyond the scoreboard. After the fractured skull he suffered in a preseason game, the defenseman has returned to practice and is expected to travel with the team, even if his actual return to game action remains unsettled for now. For a club already stacking reasons to feel better about its trajectory, that kind of news matters just as much as another two points in the standings. [Read more 🡒]