ST. PAUL, Minn. -- While the Minnesota Wild made a second-half run last season and then advanced to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, the goaltending situation became an interesting subplot.
No matter if it was Josh Harding, Darcy Kuemper, Niklas Backstrom, Ilya Brzygalov or even John Curry, Minnesota overcame an unstable position to post one of the league's lowest goals-against totals. Injuries and illness kept the Wild from knowing who would be in net any given night. It rarely mattered.
Starting anew this season, Minnesota hoped the inconsistency was gone. Kuemper and Backstrom returned. Kuemper looked to solidify the position with a strong early showing.
Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets resembled last season.
Curry was recalled from the American Hockey League under emergency conditions and started against Winnipeg with Kuemper and Backstrom both dealing with illness.
"You just don't have a lot of time to think into it too much, which is probably fine," Curry said after making 19 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss Saturday. "You've got to focus on the game and focus on your preparation. Just get ready for the puck drop."
Minnesota lost in overtime when a shot off the glass behind the net deflected back to the front. At the last moment, Curry noticed the puck was coming back at him and tried to duck out of the way, but the puck went off his back and into the net.
The Wild have lost in regulation or overtime in five straight games and seven of the past nine.
"Yeah, it's a bad bounce," Curry said. "I know what this team's gone through and they've had their struggles. But I thought we played really well tonight and deserved to win that game. I just wish I would have been able to make one more of those saves."
But for Minnesota, Saturday was defined by another rotation in the goaltender carousel.
Backstrom was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 21. Kuemper was expected to start as the Wild returned from the league's holiday break. But he's dealt with illness too and wasn't feeling well.
"We knew that Kuemps wasn't 100 percent this morning," head coach Mike Yeo said. "We knew that Backy was still dealing with what he's been dealing with. The timeline is pretty simple. Kuemps came back (to the arena) and he wasn't feeling any better whatsoever. Johnny Curry did a good job going in and battling hard for us."
Saturday's appearance ended a quick, long journey for Curry.
Curry started for the Iowa Wild in Rockford on Friday night and stopped 38 of 39 shots in a victory. He bussed with the team to Grand Rapids. Curry got the call from Minnesota and hopped on a plane Saturday afternoon to join the Wild in an important home game against Winnipeg.
Curry arrived about three hours before the game and discovered he was starting as Minnesota embarks on a critical stretch to try and get back into the playoff picture in the West.
"There's pressure," Curry said. "But like everyone's saying, you've got to focus on the process. I've been happy with my game lately and just been trying to come into this situation and bring the same level of competitiveness, and just didn't go."
Curry, 30, was 5-6-0 with a 2.84 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 13 games with Iowa this season. But he won four of his last five starts in the AHL with a 1.95 goals-against average and .944 save percentage.
He made his seventh career NHL appearance Saturday and third with Minnesota. He made 43 saves in his Wild debut when Minnesota was going through its forced rotation last year.
"It's something that in the past I've never really seen before," forward Jason Pominville said. "Since I've been here it's kind of been that way where there's been unfortunate injuries, guys sick. And it's really been unfortunate we can't have somebody that just takes the load, takes the lead and takes the net for a while. It's adversity. We'll have to battle through it and find a way."
The Wild have experience in battling through uncertainty in net.
Brodin, Granlund to miss Monday's game: Adding injury to the illness, Minnesota lost defenseman Jonas Brodin and center Mikael Granlund to upper-body injuries during Saturday's game.
Yeo said Brodin and Granlund won't play in the second game of the home-and-home series against Winnipeg on Monday. Yeo said Brodin and Granlund are out on an "indefinite" status right now.
"Indefinite, we'll just say that for right now and you can expect both guys not to play in Winnipeg," Yeo said. "I need more of an update, but the word that I have right now is not to expect them for next game."
Heading into Saturday's game, Brodin was second on the team while averaging 24 minutes, 35 seconds of ice time per game and was a team-best plus-12. Granlund scored his fourth goal in Saturday's game and added his 11th assist.
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