All Aboard the Gus Bus

ST. PAUL, Minn. -Goaltenders are notoriously weird. Generally superstitious with an air of just plain oddity, it's understandable that a player who willingly stops speeding rubber hockey pucks with his body might be a little bit…eccentric.
Filip Gustavsson prefers to be what he dubs 'a boring goalie.' No superstitions for fear of messing up his whole routine, and then the day. And unlike the stereotypical younger brother being forced into goal, the 24-year-old Gustavsson found his place in net because his younger brother refused to play with him unless he was the goalie.

"No one wanted to be goalie in floor hockey," Gustavsson recalled. "And my younger brother is way more stubborn than me, so if I forced him to be in that he just wouldn't come out of his room and play, so I started goalie in that hallway, actually."
Yes, Gustavsson just may break the mold on a clichéd goalie, except for one thing: his recent knack for helping lead the Wild to victory.
Gustavsson, who made his NHL debut in relief for the Ottawa Senators on March 17, 2021, and his first start and subsequent career win coming five days later on March 22 in a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames, is 6-1-0-0 in his past seven starts following six straight wins. He has a .920 save percentage with a 2.34 goals against average and 8-5-0-1 record through 13 starts and 14 games.
Entering this year there were plenty of questions surrounding the unproven goalie. In his first two seasons with Ottawa he made just 23 starts and stepped in for 26 games where he went 10-13-0-3. In addition, coming into the 2022-23 year, it was well-known that Stanley Cup winner Marc-Andre Fleury would likely have the lion's share of starts.
"I don't know. I didn't have any expectations of how much I was going to play this year," said Gustavsson, who has rotated starts with Fleury the past several games.
"I played and I think I started to play good and got more and more opportunities."
But Gustavsson has proven himself not a backup, but a worthy tandem to Fleury, earning more starts as his play continues to reap wins.
"It's been working out great. It's rolling back and forth and we've been doing that for a while now and that feels great. I'm happy to get the opportunity I get and trying to take advantage of it."
Coach Dean Evason said Gustavsson has made it easy to rotate between the two netminders. When the Wild brought in the young goalie from the Senators in exchange for veteran Cam Talbot this summer, with Fleury being 38, there was going to be a big need for Gustavsson to play games -- and win.
"Last week or week and a half, whatever, two weeks, that we've kind of had a little bit of a rotation I think," said Evason. "We're not consciously doing that. We're just trying to make the right decision but it's nice to have the option of either one of them when we do make that decision. I've got crap before for saying that it was an easy decision. It is an easy decision. It is. If we put Gus in tonight, are we making the right call? Everyone would say, 'yeah.' If we put Flower in tonight, are we making the right call? People would say, 'yeah.' How could it be a hard decision?"
Evason credits Gustavsson's calmness and eagerness to improve for his recent play. There's also learning behind, and with, Fleury.
"You come in and you're (behind) a Hall of Fame goalie, Stanley Cup, you might be a little intimidated. 'Wow, I'm just the backup,'" said Evason. "Don't get me wrong, Flower wants the net. He competes his a\\ off to play every night. But I guarantee you he supports Gus every night that he gets the call, too.
"They push each other. But sure, has his professionalism helped Gus's transition here with us? Yeah. I think our leadership group in there has also helped that transition and the welcoming that our room provides has helped him probably adapt a little quicker than probably normal."
For Gustavsson, the recipe to success this season has been simple: remain cool, calm and collected. And have some fun out there doing it.
"A lot of goalies, they're still competing for their jobs and their way to make money," he said. "Now Fleury has a few more years in him, I don't think it's about the job anymore. I think he plays because it's fun and that's the mentality me and him have in there.
"We're just having fun playing hockey and then the business side comes after that."
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