Darcy Kuemper isn’t part of the Wild’s lineup tonight, but not because of his lower-body injury. He was activated prior to the start of Minnesota’s game against Columbus, per the Pioneer Press’ Chad Graff.
That leaves the Wild with three healthy goaltenders, including Niklas Backstrom and the recently acquired Devan Dubnyk. Minnesota got Dubnyk because it wasn’t happy with the performance of its other goaltenders and he’s paid off early by turning aside 44 of 45 shots over two contests.
Dubnyk might be able to establish himself as the team’s starting goaltender, although Kuemper will likely get opportunities to reclaim that role. Kuemper’s first chance might come on Tuesday against Detroit. Meanwhile Backstrom, who is signed through 2015-16, is in danger of being further marginalized given his 3.04 GAA and .887 save percentage this season.
Having three active goaltenders is rarely ideal, but as coach Mike Yeo pointed out, this is nothing new for Minnesota.
“I think we were able to manage it fairly well [last season], and that’s going to be important again this year,” Yeo told the Star Tribune.