Wild’s Jesper Wallstedt keeps high-scoring Ducks out of the net

Jesper Wallstedt made 28 saves in his second consecutive shutout and the Minnesota Wild won 2-0 against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Saturday evening in St. Paul, Minn.

Wallstedt, a first-round pick of the Wild in 2021 who turned 23 on Friday, made 36 saves in a 2-0 win against the Calgary Flames last Sunday. He has two shutouts in six starts this season and three in 11 starts in his three-year NHL career.

The Ducks came in as the second-highest scoring team in the NHL at 3.88 goals per game.

Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist and Marcus Johansson also scored for the Wild, who have a four-game point streak (3-0-1).

Lukas Dostal was given the night off in the finale of the three-game trip and Petr Mrazek made 28 saves in his fourth start of the season for the Ducks, who have lost three straight (0-3-0) following a seven-game winning streak.

After a scoreless first period, the Wild scored 55 seconds into the second.

Ryan Hartman brought the puck down the boards on the right side of the Anaheim zone under pressure from Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe.

Hartman dropped the puck off for a trailing Boldy, who was met by Anaheim defenseman Jacob Trouba at the top of the right circle. Boldy managed to poke a pass ahead to Johansson, who was a step ahead of the Ducks’ Ryan Strome cutting through the slot.

Johansson stopped the puck with his forehand before scoring with a backhand for a 1-0 lead.

Boldy scored into an empty net with 55 seconds left to make it 2-0.

The Wild couldn’t take advantage of seven power plays, including two double-minor high-sticking penalties. The Ducks, meanwhile, went 0-for-2 with the man-advantage.

The Ducks played without forward Mikael Granlund because of a lower-body injury. He missed eight games with a lower-body injury before scoring in a 6-3 loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.

Another center for Anaheim, Ryan Poehling, missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury.

–Field Level Media