Marc-Andre Fleury Calls His Game 2 Performance "Embarrassing" After Wild's Head-Scratching Goalie Decision

One of the big stories from the first night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was the Minnesota Wild's Game 1 double-overtime win over the Dallas Stars.

After Game 2 the opposite was true. The Wild fell to the Stars 7-3.

Starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury didn't hold back in analyzing his performance. The veteran netminder gave up 7 goals on just 31 shots.

"Oh man, embarrassing on my part giving up seven goals like that in the Playoffs," the three-time Stanley Cup champions said.

"You know, I want to come in and give a chance to my team to stay in the game and win, and that's not what I did. I gave up too many goals. I think we had to open up to try to come back in the game and we gave up more chances, but bottom line, I didn't make any good key saves in the game."

Fleury has been through many a playoff run in his day. He had an off night, but he'll bounce back as he has before.

However, goaltending was the focus and not just because the Wild allowed a touchdown and PAT, but because of their choice of starting goalie.

After a solid outing in Game 1, many were surprised the Wild didn't go back to Filip Gustavsson in Game 2. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Why Didn't The Wild Start Filip Gustavsson Over Fleury?

Filip Gustavsson started Game 1 between the pipes for the Wild which they won. This had a lot of people asking why they didn't stick with him in Game 2.

The 24-year-old Swede played every second of the game. All 92 minutes and 20 seconds. Those were a fairly busy 92+ minutes for Gustavsson as he faced 53 shots and made 52 saves. That's quite a bit of extra mileage to put on in the first game of a series.

Picking a goalie in a situation like this is tough, even though it seems easy to say, "Yeah, let's go for the guy who just won." I think Minnesota overthought the situation and went the conservative route. Perhaps they didn't want to overplay their young goalie too early in the postseason.

I think not pulling Fleury after the second period with the WIld down 6-3 speaks to this. That's not an insurmountable lead, so why not switch things up?

You'd have to assume that Gustavsson will get the nod in Game 3, and unless he gets completely shelled or the game runs long again Game 4 and beyond. They've got to go the hot-hand route.

It was a bit of a mistake, but I don't think the Wild's starting goalie choice was a monumental brain fart. It could've just as easily worked in their favor it just, y'know... didn't.

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