Wilderness Walk: Jesper Wallstedt, elite sniper

Your daily dose of Wild news, along with other interesting stories from around the NHL.

The Minnesota Wild need some help scoring. Despite having a decent record, they are near the bottom of the league in goals scored, especially at 5-on-5 action, and just need some firepower to pull them out of mediocrity. Maybe they have the answer to that problem down in AHL Iowa. It’s not Adam Beckman, it’s not Sammy Walker, it’s not Mitchell Chaffee, but it’s goaltender Jesper Wallstedt.

In the dying seconds of the Iowa-Chicago game this weekend, with the Wolves’ net empty, Wallstedt was able to whip a puck down the ice and score a goal.

A goal from a goaltender is the hockey equivalent of a pitcher hitting a home run, or an offensive lineman scoring a touchdown. It involves a decent amount of skill, but most of the highlight involves a breakdown in play from the other team, and it’s just a perfect anomaly.

That’s Wild

• In case you missed it, before the weekend Pierre Lebrun reported that the Wild could trade defenseman Matt Dumba this season, even if the team is winning games before the trade deadline. [Hockey Wilderness]
• Marc-Andre Fleury started out his season poorly, but he has now turned it around and is singlehandedly keeping the Wild in most of the games that he starts in. Here’s how he did it. [The Athletic]

Off the trail…

• During the New Jersey Devils’ home opener, head coach Lindy Ruff got showered with boos when his name was announced. He was stunned by the reaction, but now he is certainly feeling the love and apologies from those same fans. Over the weekend, the Devils crowd chanted “Sorry Lindy” as the team gets off to an unbelievable start to their season. [Yahoo Sports]
• The Boston Bruins are winning a lot, but how and why? [ESPN]