
The Wild goalie battled illness and left everything on the ice… Literally
Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson gave fans one of the grittiest performances you’ll ever see Thursday night in the 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. And I mean gritty.
Battling a nasty illness all game long, Gustavsson somehow stayed between the pipes and turned aside 44 of 45 shots, the fourth-highest save total of his career. Shot after shot, Colorado pressed. Shift after shift, Gus answered.
But with just over a minute left in the game, things took a turn.
After fighting through the entire night, Gustavsson vomited in his crease. Yes, in the crease.
Watch it all here, if you have the stomach for it:
He immediately exited the game and sprinted down the tunnel to the dressing room, finally forced to wave the white flag after emptying the tank.
Made saves.
Got sick.
Kept battling.
Left everything on the ice: including lunch.
Teammates and fans alike couldn’t believe he even lasted that long.
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t glamorous. But it was toughness personified. That’s hockey.
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About the author
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Christine has been a lifelong hockey fan ever since she fell for Mario Lemieux’ slick moves and Jaromir Jagr’s mullet. A professional writer, she joined Attraction Media in 2017. Since then, she has good reasons to watch all hockey games and can humiliate several men who can’t handle that a woman knows more about hockey than they ever will.
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