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Wild prospect Jesper Wallstedt is healthy. Will he be in Minnesota soon?

john shipley, pioneer press
·3 min read

Marc-Andre Fleury appears set to start his fourth straight game in goal for the Wild on Saturday in Columbus, a first for the veteran this season. He is 0-3-0 with a 2.72 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in those games.

Zane McIntyre, a veteran professional from Thief River Falls who has eight NHL games under his belt, has been the backup since the Wild placed No. 1 goalie Filip Gustavsson on injured reserve.

Gustavsson left a 4-2 loss at Winnipeg after two periods on Dec. 30.

McIntyre has been backup to Wild prospect Jesper Wallstedt, who was scheduled to make his first start for Iowa since Dec. 20 on Friday against Grand Rapids in Des Moines. He was out with an undisclosed injury.

“I know that he’s on his way back here shortly to be able to get in and get back up and running,” Wild coach John Hynes said before Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to Calgary. “So, that’s another situation we’ll keep an eye on, for sure.”

Wallstedt is 11-7-2 with a 2.43 GAA and .922 save percentage in 18 appearances with Iowa this season. Asked if it’s possible the Wild would recall a healthy Wallstedt, Hynes said, “Absolutely.”

Fleury, who played his 1,000th NHL game last Sunday, is one win shy of catching Patrick Roy (551) for second on the career victories list for goalies.

Zuccarello activated

The Wild finally got some good news on the injury front Friday when they were able to activate Mats Zuccarello from injured reserve, making him eligible to play Saturday night at Columbus.

Out since Dec. 16 with an upper body injury, the veteran wing has missed the past nine games.

Zuccarello was the team’s top points producer when he was sidelined with six goals and a team-high 22 assists. He has since been overtaken by Kirill Kaprizov (13-21–34), currently on injured reserve with an upper body injury.

The Wild played Thursday night’s 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay without Zuccarello, Kaprizov, Marcus Foligno (lower), Jonas Brodin (upper), Jared Spurgeon (lower) and Vinni Lettieri (Lettieri).

Wild recall Adam Raska

The Wild sent former Gophers forward Sammy Walker back to AHL Iowa on Friday and recalled Adam Raska, acquired in the trade that sent Calen Addison to San Jose on Nov. 8. Walker, 24, played in the Wild’s past two games, registering two shots on goal.

Raska, 22, is a plus-1 with no points in eight career NHL games, all with the Sharks. With Iowa, he has one goal and 61 penalty minutes in 20 games. He could make his Wild debut on Saturday, although with Zuccarello back, he isn’t necessarily needed.

The Wild canceled Friday’s practice after Thursday night’s 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay, their fourth in a row, at Xcel Energy Center. Of the remaining injured players, Foligno and Lettieri, officially day to day, seem closest to returning.

Foligno has missed two games with a lower-body injury. Asked after Thursday’s game if the veteran wing would travel with the team to Columbus, Hynes said, “I don’t know yet actually, to be honest. A lot of times you check in the morning, and then there’s treatments and things, and I haven’t talked to (trainers).”

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