Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson did not join his teammates on the ice for the third period of Saturday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. The Wild announced that he suffered a lower-body injury and would not return.
Gustavsson stopped 19 of 22 shots through the first two periods. It’s unclear how the 25-year-old injured himself, but he did not return for the third, forcing Marc-Andre Fleury to enter the game and make nine saves on 10 shots.
The Jets defeated the Wild 4-2.
Gustavsson has a 10-8-2 record in 22 appearances, recording a .903 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.95 goals-against-average (GAA). Through four NHL seasons, Gustavsson, taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the from the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, has a 42-30-12 record with a .916 SV% and a 2.62 GAA.
Fleury’s appearance marked his 999th career NHL game. If Gustavsson is out for the next game, it will likely mean that Fleury will play in his 1000th game on Sunday against the Jets.
Fleury is in his 20th NHL season, having compiled a 550-320-93 record with a .912 SV% and a 2.59 GAA, having played with the Penguins, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Wild. Fleury has won three Stanley Cup championships, all with the Penguins, and is one of two active players who played in the NHL before the 2004-05 lockout, the other being Carolina Hurricanes’ defenseman Brent Burns.
The Wild have a 16-14-4 with 36 points, seventh in the Western Conference’s Central Division. After today’s loss, the Wild are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. Their next game is a Sunday matinee at home against the Jets, followed by their first game of 2024 against the Flames on Tuesday.
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