John Hynes explains his goalie choice for Game 1 of the playoffs.

When it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs, players and coaches try to pull every rabbit out of their hat and lay it all on the line in an effort to win the ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup. That's why every decision they make is scrutinized and over analyzed, which in turn can make it difficult to take risk on the biggest stage of all.

Risks like starting a rookie goaltender in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Wild head coach John Hynes confirmed he would be doing just that when he spoke to the media and announced that Jesper Wallstedt would get the start after an excellent regular season for the Wild.

"Wallstedt is gonna be in net for Game 1," confirmed Hynes.

When asked about his decision to go with Wallstedt, Hynes indicated that Wallstedt has earned it all season long.

"I don't think it's just the last couple of weeks," said Hynes. "I think his overall body of work has been really solid. He played really well coming down the stretch but I think you also want to take into consideration the track record of the goalie and for him he's had a really good year."

The Wild do have a more experienced NHL goaltender in Filip Gustavsson on their roster but there's no question that Wallstedt has looked better this season. Gustavsson appeared in 50 games for the Wild but had a 2.67 goals against average and a .904 save percentage over that stretch of play.

Wallstedt took on the lighter workload with only 35 games under his belt but recorded a 2.58 goals against average and .916 save percentage over that stretch.

Do you agree with Hynes' decision to go with the rookie? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.