ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson saw an opportunity and he cashed in.
Gustavsson capped the Wild’s 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues with the rare goalie goal. The 26-year-old gloved Pavel Buchnevich's shot from the blue line, dropped it to his stick and lifted a shot high into the air that stayed true and slid into an empty net with 8.1 seconds left.
“They probably try and make me get a whistle and get a face off in our zone, and they just put it straight in the glove and I try and put it down as quick as I could,” Gustavsson said. “It just laid perfect there on the ice, and I just try and shoot as hard as I could.”
It was Gustavsson’s first goal on any level and the first ever goalie goal in Wild franchise history.
Gustavsson was thinking about trying it after talking to teammate and fellow goalie Marc-Andre Fleury during a Blues timeout with 34 seconds left.
“Flower looked up at the board and he’s like, ‘Yeah, we’re up two goals, you should probably try it. If you get the chance, you’re shooting right?’” Gustavsson said. “I was like, yeah, maybe I should.”
"I didn't know I could shoot it that far," he told ESPN's Emily Kaplan following the game. "It's crazy."
Gustavsson is the 15th goalie to score a goal in NHL history and the first since Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry on Nov. 20, 2023, against Tampa Bay. It was also just the third power-play goal by a goalie following San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov (March 10, 2002) and New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur (March 21, 2013).
Wild coach John Hynes witnessed Nashville’s Pekka Rinne score a goalie goal against Chicago on Jan. 9, 2020, when he was the head coach of the Predators.
“It was almost very similar to Gus, like, it was kind of six-on-five situation, kind of dumped in on the goalie, and he had time to be able to do it,” Hynes said. “Both guys, you could tell they were going for it. So great to see.”
Teammates on the ice at the time swarmed his crease, while others on the bench hammered the boards with their sticks. Gustavsson himself celebrated in style with a flyby of the Wild bench.
“It was unbelievable,” Wild center Jakub Lauko said. “It was amazing. It would be nicer if we’d been at home with, like, a full barn. But, you know, it’s an incredible moment. I’m just happy for him.”
The big Swede, known for his quirky sense of humor, told ESPN's Kaplan that his time might get tighter after his brief offensive explosion. "I should in the power play meetings," he laughed.
Gustavsson, who made 27 saves against the Blues, has had a strong start to the season improving to 2-0-1. He has stopped 91 of 96 shots he has faced for a .948 save percentage.
He has given a big boost to Minnesota, which is dealing with several key injuries while having just played the second in a season-long seven game road trip.
“I don’t think I do anything special right now,” Gustavsson said. “I don’t be any flashy. Obviously, I make some bigger saves, but that’s usually when you’re out of position. I just try to be in the right position most of the time and make boring saves. And I think that’s been working very good so far.”