St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Wild signed a 51-year-old emergency goaltender on Wednesday but didn't need him to dress against the Nashville Predators.
The Wild said Paul Deutsch, a native of Minneapolis, was signed an amateur tryout contract in case Matt Hackett's flight was late due to hectic holiday air travel
Hackett was recalled from the AHL's Houston Aeros and arrived in time to back up Josh Harding against the Predators. In fact, his flight was early and Hackett took his place on the bench with 1:13 gone in the first period.
Starting Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom missed the game for personal reasons.
Hackett was 7-2-3 with a 2.23 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage and one shutout in 13 games with Houston.
The team also placed defenseman Marek Zidlicky on injured reserve.
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