Wild thankful to be home, ready to put Islanders to test
Jesper Wallstedt and his teammates on the Minnesota Wild are happy to be home.
"(I want to) just sleep in my bed, play some computer games and just hang out and play in front of our fans again," the 23-year-old goaltender said. "I look forward to that a lot."
Wallstedt and the Wild will get their wish when Minnesota faces off against the New York Islanders on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn. It marks the first home game for the Wild since Dec. 23, when they lost to the Nashville Predators 3-2 in overtime.
Minnesota followed that performance with a seven-game road trip that stretched from Dec. 27 through Thursday night. The Wild went 4-1-2 on the trip, including a 3-2 overtime victory against the Seattle Kraken in the finale.
Wild forward Marcus Foligno knows that it is a tight turnaround to face the Islanders at home. Minnesota has 60 points in 45 games this season and wants to maintain its strong play as it heads toward the break for the Winter Olympics.
"It's a grueling season, schedule-wise," Foligno said. "But we have the rest of this month, a little bit of February, to focus on it, take it a game at a time. (The Olympic) break's going to come pretty quick.
"So, all these wins, if we can get to the break feeling good about ourselves in the situation we are in, I think that would just relieve some pressure coming back and (make) us feel better about our game and knowing that we can be a top team in the league."
The Wild will take on an Islanders team that has earned at least one point in three straight games and four of its past five contests. The Islanders had to settle for a point in their most recent contest as they lost 2-1 against the Predators in the shootout round.
Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock said the shootout loss could ultimately be a positive.
"I don't think you can get frustrated, I don't think that's good for the group," Pulock said. "It was pretty tight both ways. We had a few looks. We weren't able to capitalize on those at 5-on-5. Thought we defended pretty well."
The Islanders' options in net include Ilya Sorokin and David Rittich. Sorokin is 13-10-2 with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage this season, and Rittich is 11-5-3 with a 2.39 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
Sorokin is 1-4-1 with a 2.82 GAA and a .911 save percentage in six career games against the Wild. Rittich is 5-1-1 with a 2.51 GAA and a .920 save percentage in seven career games.
Wallstedt has shined in net for the Wild, posting a 12-2-4 record with a 2.28 GAA and a .928 save percentage in 18 games. Filip Gustavsson also has been sharp with a 14-9-4 record, a 2.48 GAA and a .912 save percentage in 27 games.
Wallstedt has faced the Islanders once, stopping 25 of 27 shots and earning the victory. Gustavsson is 3-2-0 with a 2.60 GAA and a .913 save percentage in five career games against the Islanders.