Wild reveal goalie decision, injuries, lineup changes for Game 3 vs. Avs

The Wild have made their goalie decision and tinkered with their defense pairs ahead of Game 3 of their second-round series against the Avalanche on Saturday night.

After being benched for Game 2, Jesper Wallstedt will be back in net for Minnesota. The 23-year-old will look to bounce back from a difficult outing in Game 1 last Sunday, in which he allowed eight Colorado goals on 42 shots.

Wallstedt is 4-3 with a .903 save percentage and a 2.81 GAA in this postseason. He had a .924 save percentage and a 2.05 GAA in six games against the Stars in the opening round. During the regular season, he was 18-9-6 with a .915 SV%, a 2.61 GAA, and four shutouts.

John Hynes and the Wild played Filip Gustavsson for the first time in these playoffs in Tuesday's Game 2 loss, a decision that didn't exactly pay off. Gustavsson allowed goals on the first two shots he faced and gave up four in total on 22 shots.

The Wild need better play from Wallstedt, who was beaten on multiple unscreened shots from the same right offensive circle in Game 1. But they also need to defend better in front of their goaltender. In an attempt to do so, Hynes has tinkered with his lineup of defensemen for Saturday's game.

With Jonas Brodin injured, the Wild's Jared Spurgeon-Jake Middleton pairing has been a nightmare through two games in this series, going -4 at even strength. They've been split up for this game. Spurgeon will skate with young Daemon Hunt, who made his playoff debut in Game 1. Middleton will be paired with Zach Bogosian, who missed Game 2 with an injury and was replaced by Jeff Petry.

So that's Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber, Spurgeon and Hunt, and Middleton and Bogosian as the Wild's three defense pairs. Brodin remains out. It sounds as if Spurgeon and Middleton may still skate together when the Wild are on the penalty kill.

As for the forward lines, the only notable update is No. 1 center Joel Eriksson Ek remains out due to injury. Danila Yurov will continue to center Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson on the Wild's second line. Ryan Hartman centers Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello on the top line. The bottom six consists of Yakov Trenin, Michael McCarron, and Vladimir Tarasenko on the third line and Nico Sturm between the Foligno brothers on the fourth.

The Wild need to be significantly better on special teams to have a chance at getting back into this series against Colorado. The Avs have converted on three of their seven power plays, while the Wild have gone 0 for 5 with the man advantage.

It should go without saying that this is a must-win game for the Wild, who cannot fall down 3-0 in this series against the best team in the league. It's an 8 p.m. central time game at Grand Casino Arena, televised on TNT, TruTV, and HBO Max.