‘Gustavsson scores!’ Minnesota Wild goaltender takes his shot and makes most of it

ST. LOUIS – A goalie trying to score a goal can be frowned upon, and Filip Gustavsson knows this.

“Usually, coaches get very mad if you try and shoot it with only [a] one-goal lead,” the Wild goaltender explained, “because usually it becomes icing if you miss it.”

But the Wild were ahead by two goals, not one.

And Gustavsson didn’t miss.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, if I get the chance, I’ll try it,’” he said.

Coming out of a last-minute timeout in which fellow netminder Marc-Andre Fleury encouraged Gustavsson to take a shot at St. Louis’ empty net when play resumed, Gustavsson sunk a near rink-length shot with 9 seconds left Tuesday night in the Wild’s 4-1 victory over the Blues at Enterprise Center (a 164-foot wrister, to be exact) to become the answer to multiple trivia questions.

He is the first Wild goalie to score a goal and the 15th all-time in the NHL. This the 18th goal ever recorded by a goaltender — Martin Brodeur has three and Ron Hextall two — and only the third on the power play.

That’s right, Gustavsson’s historic feat lifted the Wild power play to a 30.8% efficiency.

“We always need to be higher than 20 percent,” said Gustavsson, who with his goal had scored just as much or more than five of the top-10 goal getters from last season. Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman all entered Wednesday stuck on zero goals. The Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon had one apiece.

After catching a dump-in by St. Louis, Gustavsson dropped the puck to the ice and wound up for a shot that flew over the neutral zone, touched down between the faceoff circles and skidded into the net.

“Textbook,” Fleury said.

Gustavsson, who’s only the second Swedish-born goalie to score in the NHL and had never had a goal previously in his career, had the celebration to match, getting surrounded by his teammates on the ice before peeling away and skating in front of the Wild bench for high-fives.

“An incredible moment,” said forward Jakub Lauko, who also had his first Wild goal earlier in the evening, coming shorthanded. “I’m just happy for him.”

But the shot might be more significant to the Wild in the short-term than the big picture, the exclamation point on an early turnaround by Gustavsson, who has returned from a down season the Wild’s most consistent player through the team’s 2-0-2 start.

“He’s playing really solid,” said John Hynes, who became the first NHL coach to benefit from two goalie goals; he was behind the bench for Nashville when Pekka Rinne scored on Jan. 9, 2020, against Chicago. “That’s what you need to be able to win regularly in the league, and he’s making routine saves good. But there’s mistakes and breakdowns in the game and he’s making key saves at key times and usually when you get that, you give yourself the best chance to win games.”

As eye-catching as the goal is, Gustavsson was already impressing without it.

He has given up two goals or less in all three of his starts, saving 91 of 96 shots faced to rank among the best goalies a week-plus into the season.

This is the caliber of company Gustavsson, 26, kept in 2022-23 when he had the second-best save percentage and goals-against average, but he wasn’t as crisp last season ((like the Wild); Gustavsson averaged 3.06 goals-against per game and his save percentage didn’t even crack 90% — this while he was just kicking off a three-year, $11.25 million contract.

Factor in the emergence of rookie Jesper Wallstedt and the Wild wanting to utilize him, Fleury and Gustavsson, and opportunity, let alone expectations, for Gustavsson became murky.

But the Wild were never going to deny one goalie from seizing control of the crease, and so far that player is Gustavsson.

“It’s great for Gus,” Hynes said. “Obviously, we all know at the end of last year he wasn’t happy and no one was happy with what had gone on. He put some hard work in this summer, and he’s come back in I think the right mindset and learned his lessons from last year and now he’s come in and he’s playing real solid and you need that.

“Early in the year, sometimes it’s tough to win if you don’t get strong goaltending because the games are a little bit scattered as everyone’s trying to get used to the NHL pace. So, when you can get really quality goaltending early, it gives you the best chance to win.”

Gustavsson chalks up his performance to his positioning, which enables him to make routine saves.

The flashier stops tend to be indicative of him scrambling, but he has had those, too, like when he slid across in time to block a Jordan Kyrou shot on a Wild penalty kill in the second period — one of his 27 saves that preserved a two-goal lead Tuesday night.

A two-goal lead is what helped him add to his highlight reel later in the game.

“I usually complain about my [stick] curve not being the right angle to get [a shot] that high,” Gustavsson said. “But I don’t know, extra powers or something.”