The Minnesota Wild took down the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night (Oct. 15), with the team’s fourth goal coming from goaltender Filip Gustavsson. The 26-year-old netminder caught Blues’ forward Pavel Buchnevich’s shot from center ice, dropped the puck, and fired it down the ice to make it a 4-1 game with nine seconds left in the third period. This was the first goal scored by a goaltender in Minnesota’a franchise history.
FILIP GUSTAVSSON PPG🚨
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) October 16, 2024
Goaltender Filip Gustavsson scored a powerplay goal against the St. Louis Blues to extend the lead to 4-1 in the dying seconds of the game!#MNWild pic.twitter.com/uXfQFrClkA
In a postgame interview, Gustavsson joked with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan that he “should be on the power play meetings now.” In addition to Gustavsson’s goal, Minnesota found the back of the net three times courtesy of Ryan Hartman’s powerplay goal, Jakub Lauko’s shorthanded goal, and Marco Rossi’s even-strength goal.
Gustavsson’s goal against the Blues was the first goal by a goaltender of the 2024-25 season and the first since Tristan Jarry of the Pittsburgh Penguins scored against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 30, 2023. Goaltenders Linus Ullmark (Feb. 25, 2023) and Pekka Rinne (Jan. 9, 2020) have also found the net in recent seasons. Gustavsson’s goal was the fourth by a goaltender since Mike Smith did so for the Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 19, 2013, against the Detroit Red Wings.
In addition to the goal, Gustavsson stopped 27 of 28 shots faced in Minnesota’s victory. He improves his season record to 2-0-1 as the team picks up its fifth and sixth points in the standings. The team will next face off on Oct. 19 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
