Behind Filip Gustavsson's comeback: Self-reflection, conditioning — and trust in his Wild teammates

EDMONTON Filip Gustavsson will be the first to tell you its a long season, so hes trying to keep an even keel with how well he has started knowing things can change in a snap.

But his renaissance to date, one that single-handedly destroyed the Wilds plan to run a three-goalie system that included his pal and countryman, Jesper Wallstedt, has everything to do with better trust in the guys in front of him and an offseason of self-reflection and self-improvement.

Advertisement The Wild entered Wednesdays NHL action tied for the second-most points in the NHL (27).

Gustavsson was tied for second in the league with nine wins and ranked first with a 2.07 goals-against average and second with a .926 save percentage.

The first reason for improvement is obvious just by looking at him.

The 26-year-old, after being visited in Sweden by strength and conditioning coach Matt Harder, dropped some pounds and came to camp in much better shape.

I think it starts in the summer, goalie coach Freddy Chabot said.

We demanded a few things from him, and he did, he showed up in good shape and he worked hard.

He got here early, worked hard, had a good camp and he built some momentum.

And from Game 1, he was solid, and hes been calm.

And I think he is also a year older, so everything he went through last year, you learn some stuff, how to deal with the good and the bad, and hes doing a really good job of that right now, just being in the moment.

After finishing second in the NHL in goals-against average (2.10) and save percentage (.931) in 39 appearances two years ago behind only Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark , Gustavsson earned a three-year contract worth $3.75 million.

But last season, his goals-against average ballooned to 3.06 and his save percentage plummeted to .899.

Why? Many reasons, from his fitness and, in coach John Hynes mind, his practice habits.

But Gustavsson has another perspective that also largely explains the Wilds successful start this season.

Trust.

A goalies performance and the performance of the players in front of him go hand in hand.

Last season, the injury-riddled Wild used a mishmash of players, and even though the analytics show they mostly defended well and got underwhelming goaltending, theres no doubt the goalies didnt know what to expect from the laundry list of lineups in front of them.

Advertisement This season, the Wild have been mostly healthy to this point and have given up the fewest five-on-five goals (24) and five-on-five goals per game (1.33) in the NHL.

Their expected goals against at five-on-five, according to MoneyPuck, is a league-best 29.69.

In a recent shutout against Montreal , the Wild were credited with not giving up a single high-danger chance.

Gustavsson, himself, said the only scoring chance he recalled was a first-period one against Kaiden Guhle .

Filip Gustavsson shuts the door for the seventh @pepsi shutout of his career! pic.twitter.com/7eqgnG52Vd NHL (@NHL) November 15, 2024 Its a whole team thing, said Gustavsson, who has given up two goals or fewer in a league-best 11 starts.

I would say in the start, we really dug into this team game plan.

Obviously, the team wins a few games ago, the goalie wins a few games, and we help each other win most of the games.

And I feel its like we just found a little connection this year and last year was very frustrating.

You had a few good games and then a lot of s games, and you just never could find this consistency with just building trust within each other or for yourself.

It doesnt really feel like we do anything special to make us win these games.

It just feels like were working very hard and just have really dug in and bought into following the team game plan.

Then, theres the self-reflection and recognizing and accepting that his game slipped last season.

I went home after the World Championship and I used it to reset and decide, What didnt work? What worked, and why do we let in a few goals? Gustavsson said.

And what I really understood is it was a lot of bad goals.

You always can let in goals against the best players, but you can always eliminate those bad and questionable goals.

Advertisement And just looking at the game, I was cheating and happened to fall behind in the plays, really, everywhere and all the time.

So I just went back and just did the easy things.

Went and tried to save those easy goals.

Just go back to that basic.

Gustavsson is fifth in the NHL in goals saved above expected (7.1) and 14th in goals saved above expected per 60 minutes (0.507).

What that shows is how well the Wild are playing defensively and that Gustavsson isnt being relied upon to steal games left and right.

Sure, hes been excellent when needed, such as the game in Winnipeg when he stole a point or Tuesdays game in St.

Louis where he had to be terrific in the first few minutes before the 18 skaters in front of him found their legs and game.

But the Wild are allowing only 28.3 shots per game and 28.0 per game in Gustavssons starts.

Chabot feels Gustavsson grew up a lot last season.

When you struggle, you learn from it, Chabot said, and then were better in the future because you learn how to deal with it.

But he concurs with Gustavsson that a lot of his fine play so far this season has to do with the play in front of him.

If you look at some teams that are struggling right now, that have gotten off to bad starts, their goalies are under pressure, and the trust is not as big as it was maybe in the past, Chabot said.

And then the goalies sometimes look like theyre struggling, and then its hard to rebuild.

But right now we started strong.

Everybodys playing well.

The guys have great chemistry, theres trust on the ice, and theyre playing hard D.

And because were playing hard D, were winning games and were getting to score more goals, too.

So I think its more of a team thing.

Gustavsson looks so much calmer in net this season.

Hes quiet, square to shooters, controlling his rebounds better, and when things get frantic in his own end and the Wild are in dire need of a line change, hes been tremendous at recognizing when he better freeze that puck and allow for things to settle down.

Advertisement Gustavsson said when he watched video of himself over the offseason, he didnt realize how aggressive he was becoming with cross-crease slides or coming three feet outside the crease whenever they came through the blue lines.

Chabot has actually asked both Gustavsson and veteran Marc-Andre Fleury to be much more conservative and play deeper in their crease this season.

It does go with how the teams playing, Chabot explained.

Last year we were giving up more earlier, and when that happens and you see your squad giving up lots of scoring chances, you dont really have a choice as a goalie.

You have to step out a little more to make sure youre square and out on the slot chances.

But then it creates other problems.

This year I just asked all the goalies to be a little more conservative on their positioning just make sure theyre square on the first shot.

And this way if theres a passing play or rebound play that we need to get to, we get there.

The penalty kill is still an area that needs improvement, Gustavsson admits.

But even though its ranked 24th in the NHL, it is 17 for its last 18.

Obviously the (poor) PK was a massive thing last year and we started off a little shaky this year, too, said Gustavsson, who has an .864 save percentage on the penalty kill.

But even though it was not going great, and we gave up a few goals, it didnt feel like we came out and were like, Its gonna be another goal here.

It felt like we still went out there and felt like we could save the situation.

And it shows now because the last few games weve been much better.

I dont know, I think the team feels like theyre having fun.

Gustavssons incredible start is why Fleury, who hasnt lost in regulation in four starts, has barely played.

Hynes indicated Fleury will play on the road trip, so likely Saturday in Calgary unless Hynes plans to throw Fleury to the wolves (i.e., Connor McDavid , Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers ) Thursday night.

Advertisement And Wallstedt, who has gotten off to a terrible 3-5-1 start in Iowa with a 4.26 goals-against average and .864 save percentage, understands why the goalie rotation plan has been abandoned.

Give credit to Gus, too, the way hes been playing.

Super hot.

Flower, too, Wallstedt said on colleague Joe Smiths Fellowship of the Rink podcast .

It doesnt make sense to move any of those guys out of the lineup to get me in there right now.

The way theyre playing, the team is playing, the way they started the season, I can agree and see why they didnt make the change either.

Theyre too good and too hot at this moment to make a change.

I have to have an ego, too.

I want to be there and want to show up when I can.

But youve got to respect that as well.

Wallstedt admitted that he didnt handle the return to Iowa well at first.

The first two games in San Jose, I mentally wasnt in the best spot, Wallstedt said.

I thought I was preparing for something that didnt happen and then had to lower expectations but also stay mentally aware of whats going on.

It was out of your reach to do anything about it.

It was tough.

Chabot says its a long year and Wallstedt simply needs to stay patient and improve his game down in Iowa and be ready in case hes called upon.

Of course, the way Gustavsson has been playing and, in a small sample size, Fleury, it may be a while.

We take it a day at a time, Chabot said.

Were happy (with) the way things are going, and the demand is to keep up the hard work.

Daily we want to lead the team in how hard we work.

And thats all I demand from them.

Be the hardest worker out there and lead the team.

And its a day-to-day thing.

So far, so good for both Gus and Flower.

(Photo: Matt Krohn / Imagn Images).

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