Nothing Like A Goal And A Win

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this blog will interrupt whatever is being posted for a goalie goal. I know that this rule seems a little crazy with everything that happens in hockey, but goalie goals are rare enough that they need to be celebrated when they happen. It doesn't matter what level they happen at either - NHL, AHL, KHL, ECHL, NCAA, minor hockey - because goalie goals are awesome. Tonight's addition was from the AHL as the Iowa Wild added their name to the list of AHL teams with a goalie goal after Jesper Wallstedt had himself a heckuva night guarding the twine for Iowa against the Chicago Wolves at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois!

With Iowa leading 4-2 late in the game, Chicago captain Max Lajoie fired the puck in on Wallstedt. That dump-in on net would be exactly what Wallstedt needed with no forecheckers in on him as he stood up, dropped the puck, and took his shot at the vacated Wolves net!
That goal, as stated, came with 32.6 seconds to play in the game as Iowa went up 5-2, but Wallstedt also scored himself a shorthanded goal as teammate Damien Giroux was sitting in the penalty box at the time of the goal! How cool is that?

Wallstedt also made 37 saves in a game where Chicago badly outshot Iowa 39-17, so he was on his game tonight in helping the Wild win by stopping a pile of shots and by scoring a goal. It should be no surprise that Jesper Wallstedt was named the first star of the game after his incredibly successful night on the ice!

Wallstedt becomes the 18th goalie who will find his name in the AHL record book for scoring a goal. Those names include:

• Darcy Wakaluk, Rochester – Dec. 5, 1987 at Utica
• Paul Cohen, Springfield – Mar. 28, 1992 vs. Rochester
• Robb Stauber, Rochester – Oct. 9, 1995 at Prince Edward Island
• Christian Bronsard, Syracuse – Oct. 30, 1999 at Rochester
• Jean-Francois Labbe, Hartford – Feb. 5, 2000 at Quebec
• Chris Mason, Milwaukee – Oct. 15, 2001 at Utah
• Antero Niittymaki, Philadelphia – Apr. 11, 2004 at Hershey*
• Seamus Kotyk, Milwaukee – Apr. 17, 2005 at San Antonio
• Drew MacIntyre, Manitoba – Feb. 20, 2008 at Chicago*
• Chris Holt, Binghamton – Mar. 19, 2010 vs. Rochester
• Reto Berra, Lake Erie – Jan. 16, 2015 at Chicago
• Jonas Gustavsson, Bakersfield – Mar. 24, 2017 vs. San Diego
• Alex Nedeljkovic, Charlotte – Mar. 10, 2018 vs. Hartford
• Tristan Jarry, W-B/Scranton – Nov. 14, 2018 at Springfield
• Maxime Lagace, Chicago - May 25, 2019 at San Diego**
• Collin Delia, Rockford - December 17, 2021 at Texas
• Lukas Dostal, San Diego - March 2, 2022 at Colorado
• Jesper Wallstedt, Iowa - November 12, 2022 at Chicago

If you're wondering, the two starred goals scored by Niittymaki and MacIntyre were overtime goals, and the double-asterisked goal scored by Lagace was a playoff goal. Of the 18 goalie goals scored in AHL history, only four were scored by the home-team netminder as Wallstedt's goal also came on the road tonight!

Congratulations to Jesper Wallstedt on his goal as it was a beauty from 200-feet away! We've seen two goalie goals this season as Michael Sochen scored in the BCHL in September. Will we see more this season? I hope we do!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!