STOCKHOLM — Filip Gustavsson said his legs felt “like spaghetti,” at the beginning of Saturday night’s game, one played in his native country in front of more than 25 loved ones in the crowd.

But any jitters he might have had weren’t evident. Instead, the Swedish goalie turned in one of his best performances to date this season in the Wild’s first of two NHL Global Series games, a 2-1 shootout loss to Ottawa on Saturday at Avicii Arena.

“It was nerve-wracking at first,” he said. “A lot of people from my family are watching, a lot of Swedish people wanted to see all the NHL players. You take a good pride in that and that makes you want to perform even better.”

Gustavsson made 30 stops in the loss. The one goal he gave up in regulation came as the Wild changed lines.

It was a mark of progress for Gustavsson, who had given up at least three goals in each of his starts except the first of the season.

“Gus was real good, and when he had to be, he was there,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “… He looked very calm. Wasn’t out of the position and most of the saves were smothered. … He definitely looked more like himself, for sure.”

He hasn’t for much of this season.

The 25-year-old entered the day with a 4.64 goals-against average and a .872 save percent, far off his career numbers and the performance he put up in his first season in Minnesota last year.

Though the Wild have a quick turnaround — they play again on Sunday afternoon (7 a.m. CT) — Evason said it’s possible that Gustavsson starts in net again.

“He played really good,” said defenseman Jonas Brodin, who also hails from Sweden. “From the first shift, he had the breakaway. It’s not easy, and then he made that save and it almost got us going from that save. He was really good today. Fun for him to play like that at home.”

Learning experience

Fellow Swedish goalie Jesper Wallstedt was hoping the Wild would bring him along to this week’s Global Series, which they did. But despite repeated questioning from his family, the goalie prospect simply wasn’t sure before this week.

“My family were pushing, ‘Don’t you feel anything? You can’t pick up any indications or anything?’ ” Wallstedt said. “I was like ‘No, I have no idea actually.’”

It wasn’t until a couple days before the Wild were set to leave the U.S. that Wallstedt got a call from Iowa Wild coach Brett McLean, finally giving him confirmation. Wallstedt isn’t expected to see the ice, but though he won’t play, there are other benefits for the team’s 2021 first-round draft pick: he’s watching future hall of fame goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and Gustavsson closely.

“I’m looking at everything they do every day on the ice, off the ice. But  together, we’re just having a lot of fun,” Wallstedt said. “You learn a lot. You just look at whatever they do and you try to pick up as much as you can. They’re great to be around.”

Wallstedt is off to a strong start in Iowa, going 6-2 with a 0.932 save percentage. He also boasts a 2.01 goals-against average and has recorded a pair of shutouts.

And in the midst of his impressive showing, the trip to Sweden — he’s been soaking up the family time — has been “great for the body, great for the mind.”

“I feel like I’m putting more and more key parts together for my style and my game,” he said. “More comfortable just being in the environment that I’m in. I’m excited to continue to push this year, see where it goes.”

Briefly

Wild forward Ryan Hartman did not play on Saturday because of an illness. Nic Petan played in his place. It was Petan’s first NHL game of the season. … All four of the Wild’s Swedish players — Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Johansson, Jonas Brodin and Gustavsson — started on Saturday, getting hearty applause from the local crowd. Johansson later participated in the ceremonial puck drop.

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