2 January 2024
The Wild on Monday placed goaltender Filip Gustavsson on injured reserve with a lower body injury. He was hurt in the second period of a 4-2 loss last Saturday at Winnipeg.
Minnesota on Sunday recalled goaltender Zane McIntyre from Iowa and he was Marc-Andre Fleury’s backup in a 3-2 loss to the Jets at Xcel Energy Center that afternoon.
In 22 games this season, Gustavsson is 10-9-2 with two shutouts, a 2.96 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. Under NHL rules, players in IR are ineligible to compete in NHL games for a period of not less than seven days.
Fleury, who became the fourth goaltender in NHL history to play 1,000 games in Sunday’s loss, is expected to get the lion’s share of starts until Gustavsson returns starting Tuesday night against Calgary at the X.
“I hope everything goes well and quickly for him,” Fleury said Sunday. “Gus is a huge part of our team and a good buddy. I guess that’s why there’s two goalies.”
Fleury, 39, has 550 career wins, one shy of Patrick Roy for second place on the NHL career list.
“We’re excited. It’s right there,” teammate Marcus Foligno said, “It would have been nice to tie him in his 1,000th game to get it done, but we know Tuesday there’s a chance to do it right away, and I know one thing about Flower: When he gets hot, he’s pretty dangerous. So, if we can get him rolling, it’s going to be great for us.”
The Wild already have Jonas Brodin on long-term injured reserve, and on Sunday were without Mats Zuccarello (week to week), Vinni Lettieri (day to day) and Kirill Kaprizov, who was injured in Saturday’s loss at Winnipeg.
The fact that Kaprizov was not placed on IR when Gustavsson was could be a sign the team expects him back soon.
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