The goal is the Wild’s first regular season power play marker under new Assistant Coach Jason King, who is running the power play this season.
“I thought we were back on our heels there in the first period,” Evason said. “They're such an aggressive team as far as how much pressure they put on you. We didn't get out of our zone as quickly as we'd like in the first period.
“But we like the way the guys adjusted. We started to get out and into their zone a little more. They're a hard team to play against. They play hard. They play fast. They've got really good sticks. Fortunately, our defensive zone was good. Our penalty kill was good. Our goaltender was great.”
The Wild, up 2-0, didn’t have an ideal third period, getting outshot 15-5 and surrendering eight high-danger chances. But Gustavsson, who had eight combined saves on the penalty kill Thursday night, continued to turn pucks aside with ease and make even the difficult saves look routine. According to Evolving-Hockey, Gustavsson finished the game saving 3.23 goals above expected, a major reason the Wild preserved the shutout.
“A big reason we were able to win that game is Gus, obviously,” Faber said. … “It gives you a lot of confidence as a defenseman when you see your goalie playing the way he was, and the way he always plays since I’ve been here. It makes our job very easy.”
As a result, in Gustavsson’s first home-opening start with the Wild, he became the fourth goaltender in franchise history to earn a shutout in a home opener — joining the likes of Dwayne Roloson (2001), Niklas Backstrom (2007) and Darcy Kuemper (2014).
“I’m happy with my play. I didn’t think I made that many mistakes on how I play,” Gustavsson said. “I think when I don’t make the mistakes (and) I’m in the right spot, I give myself a high chance to make the save.”
The 25-year-old picked up right where he left off from last season. The Wild re-signed Gustavsson to a three-year contract this summer at an annual price tag of $3.75 million. A reward for his breakout season that saw him finish second in save percentage (.932) to eventual Vezina-Trophy winner Linus Ullmark.
And Gustavsson’s performance Thursday night indicated that he can continue his body of work from last season, which wasn’t a fluke.
“It was important for our hockey club for everyone to play well defensively, but him in particular, I hope he's gained a lot of confidence from the way that he played,” Evason said of Gustavsson. “He did his part, but the team did its part, too.”
A win against last season’s Eastern Conference Champion and a high-octane offensive Panthers team with the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Alexander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart is the type of tone-setting start to the season the Wild wanted. That’s especially true considering the Wild started 1-3-1 a year ago and won just seven of their first 17 games.
