From the Rink: Stalock's mobility a potential game-changer for Wild

ST. PAUL -- With the news that Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the spotlight between the posts shifts to South St. Paul native Alex Stalock, who for the first time in his NHL career, will have a chance to truly carry the load.
Stalock, who entered the game Tuesday at the start of the second period and made 16 saves in a 2-1 shootout win against the Calgary Flames, has been a workhorse goaltender before, both at the University of Minnesota Duluth and in the American Hockey League.

As recently as last season, Stalock was counted on by Iowa to the tune of 50 games. He was outstanding in those games, posting a 2.28 goals against average and a .926 save percentage, earning himself a two-year contract extension and the backup job with Minnesota.
"I think it's more night to night. Still have to earn it, you're still getting pushed every night," Stalock said. "I just want to go out and compete and give the team a chance to win."
In nine games this year, including seven starts, Stalock has shown the ability to play at a high level. His goals against of 2.93 has been damaged by games in Winnipeg and Carolina, games where the final stat line didn't reflect his level of play.
He was probably the Wild's best player in the 5-4 shootout loss to the Hurricanes at the beginning of the season, and the seven goals surrendered late last month in Winnipeg came as a result of several breakdowns in front of him.

"He's done well for us," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "The only game where he's been moderately average was the Winnipeg game and the rest of the guys didn't really help him that night, but we have all the confidence in the world in him."
Where Stalock can be a game changer for Minnesota is his ability to skate and play the puck. A forward in his formative years at the rink, Stalock isn't shy about leaving the blue paint to settle down pucks and start offensive rushes from near his own goal line.
"It puts a lot more pressure on the other team to place the [dump-ins] better and it's usually a focal point of the coaches to dump it in the right spot so these puck handlers won't get the puck," Boudreau said. "I know it's something we'll be talking about tonight."
Stalock's ability to play the puck has potentially huge ramifications on not only how the Wild defends, but how much it defends and what zone it's defending in.
"He's very active, he's quick out of the net and athletic and I think he really reads the game well," said Wild forward Matt Cullen. "He anticipates a lot and I think the defensemen would tell you that it helps them a lot when he gets out there and moves the puck. They take a lot less hits and we spend less time in our defensive zone."
To back Stalock up on Thursday, the Wild recalled Steve Michalek from Iowa. Michalek has built on a strong training camp, overcoming an early injury to post a 6-1-2 record and a .926 save percentage in nine games.
"That was kind of getting out there and proving myself that I can compete at this level. I think that was big for me," Michalek said. "Obviously had one good outing and one not-so-good outing so I think it was good to see both sides of the coin and try to learn from that."
Here are the projected lineups:
WILD
Nino Niederreiter - Eric Staal - Charlie Coyle
Jason Zucker - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund
Joel Eriksson Ek - Matt Cullen - Zack Mitchell
Tyler Ennis - Daniel Winnik - Chris Stewart
Ryan Suter - Matt Dumba
Jonas Brodin - Ryan Murphy
Mike Reilly - Nate Prosser
Alex Stalock
Steve Michalek
MAPLE LEAFS
Zach Hyman - Patrick Marleau - Mitch Marner
Leo Komarov - Nazem Kadri - William Nylander
James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Connor Brown
Matt Martin - Dominic Moore - Josh Leivo
Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner - Nikita Zaitsev
Andreas Borgman - Roman Polak
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney