The most obvious benefit of having solid goaltending is it relieves your team’s goal-scorers from having to carry too much weight.

Simple math tells you that when you give up three goals, you need to score four to win. And for a Minnesota Wild team for whom the offense has not been clicking – even when starting November on a 5-1-1 streak – that’s likely too much weight to expect them to carry.

So with Jesper Wallstedt breaking out of his backup role and allowing no goals – not one – in his previous two starts, the trickle-down effect it has on the entire team’s confidence can be seen on the faces inside the winning locker room.

“It feels good when you have him playing this well. It makes the group a lot [more] confident. I mean, he’s incredible right now,” Wild rookie defenseman Zeev Buium said following Wallstedt’s 28-save shutout of the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. “I don’t know how many goals we’ve let up in the last couple games, but it’s a few. It almost feels like we’re gonna shut out every team when we play them. That’s a good thing to have.”

For the record, entering Sunday night’s game with the Vegas Golden Knights, the Wild had surrendered a NHL-best four goals in their previous four contests, split between Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson.

Wild coach John Hynes joked following the Anaheim game that a goalie controversy caused by two men both playing well is the best problem a coach can have.

“You need strong goaltending to win, and we obviously have a good tandem,” Hynes said. “I think both guys are competing, and that’s what you want when you have two guys that can play and they compete for the net. That’s usually what drives a lot of things, is if you have competition.”

Strong goaltending also allows some teams to play a more free game, willing to take risks and make plays, secure in the knowledge that mistakes won’t automatically end up in their own net. The Wild took a pair of penalties late in a one-goal game versus Anaheim, then watched their penalty-killers – Wallstedt chief among them – negate the Ducks’ man-advantage and close out a win that was much-needed for team confidence.

The high-risk, high-reward play prompted one Wild player to express some mild concern, while praising Wallstedt.

“I think sometimes too much (confidence),” Minnesota penalty-killer Yakov Trenin said. “Giving up a lot of 2-on-1s, we need to settle down the confidence a little bit on that. A little too confident.”

In blanking the Flames and Ducks in his past two starts, Wallstedt became the first rookie goalie in Wild history with back-to-back shutouts.

Briefly

Wild veteran forward Vladimir Tarasenko missed a second consecutive game due to a lower body injury on Sunday.

“I would classify it as day to day right now with the information I have at this point,” Hynes said following the Anaheim game.

Tarasenko, acquired from Detroit over the summer, has two goals and eight assists in his first 18 games with the Wild.

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The boo birds rained down from the home crowd on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium as J.J. McCarthy slowly trotted off the field. It was the first sign that the fan base has started to grow frustrated the development of the young quarterback.

Who could blame them?

The growing pains of McCarthy were once again on display as the Vikings struggled to get anything going against the Chicago Bears. That said, McCarthy saved his best for last, leading an impressive drive in the final minutes.

Not only did McCarthy show incredible poise while leading the Vikings down the field, he then showed a clutch gene by delivering a strike to Jordan Addison to give the Vikings the lead with 56 left.

That wasn’t enough to earn the Vikings a win, as the Bears got into field goal range following a long kick return, which set the stage for Cairo Santos to play hero with a 48-yard field goal as time expired.

It went down as a heartbreaking 19-17 loss for the Vikings that has left them with more questions than answers.

There was some foreshadowing on the opening drive of the game as McCarthy underthrew Addison deep downfield off play action, then airmailed Justin Jefferson near the sideline for what would’ve moved the chains.

It was a sign of things to come as McCarthy looked overwhelmed for prolonged stretches while only completed 16 of 32 pass attempts for 150 yards. Though he mixed in an good throw over the middle here in there, he more often made routine throws look like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube while blindfolded.

It simply wasn’t good enough from a guy the Vikings selected with the No. 10 overall pick with hopes of him being the franchise quarterback.

That said, the Vikings still managed to take an early lead in the game, as McCarthy put together a solid drive that stalled out short of the end zone. That set up a field goal from Will Reichard that made it 3-0 in favor of the Vikings.

That prompted a good response from the Bears as they put together a lengthy 15-play drive that ended with a touchdown run by Kyle Monangai to make it 7-3.

The struggles of McCarthy started to rear their ugly head from there. He threw an interception on the next drive after climbing up a little bit too far in the pocket and getting hit while he released the ball.

Fortunately for the Vikings, the Bears couldn’t deliver the haymaker, settling for a field goal to make it 10-3.

There was still a chance for the Vikings to score some points before halftime, until McCarthy made yet another mistake, this time throwing an interception on a pass intended for Addison the end zone.

After a pair of field goals from the Bears made it 16-3 after halftime, the Vikings finally got a spark they desperately needed thanks to some complimentary football.

They got a couple of sacks by Dallas Turner and Andrew Van Ginkel on defense, a 42-yard punt return by Myles Price on special teams, then a touchdown run by Jordan Mason to cut the deficit to 16-10.

That set the stage for McCarthy to put the Vikings ahead in the final minute with his most impressive drive of the game that make it 17-16 with 56 second left in the game. That proved to be too much time as Devin Duvernay provided a 56-yard kick return that put the Bears on the edge of field goal range.

After a few runs up the gut, Santos walked onto the field, and put the ball through the uprights to finalize the score at 19-17.

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Frankie Capan III logged the best individual finish of his young PGA Tour career on Sunday in Southampton, Bermuda. The Tour rookie finished in a tie for third at the Bermuda Championship, which provided valuable points heading into the finale of the fall season.

Capan, a North Oaks native and the lone Minnesotan on the PGA Tour, shot a 1-under round of 70 in the final round. That was tied for the seventh-best round on the course on a day where wins hovered around 30 miles per hour, with gusts swirling north of 40 MPH.

Adam Schenk finished 12-under par to win the tournament, edging Chandler Phillips by a stroke via a four and a half foot par putt on the 18th hole.

Capan was in a tie for second, just one shot back of Schenk, when on the 16th tee on Sunday. But he bogeyed No. 16 and No. 17 to fall out of contention for the win before making par on the 18th hole.

But his finish moved Capan up 18 spots on the season-long points list to No. 124 heading into next week’s fall finale — the RSM Classic.

Golfers in the top 100 after that event secure their PGA Tour cards for next season. Those in spots No. 101-125 earn conditional status and will probably get eight-to-12 starts on golf’s top tour next year.

So Capan still has work to do, but he’s given himself a chance via improved play this fall. Sunday marked his second top-six finish in his last four events.

He could sure use something similar again next weekend.

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By KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON  — Lawmakers seeking to force the release of files related to the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein are predicting a big win in the House this week with a “deluge of Republicans” voting for their bill and bucking the GOP leadership and President Donald Trump, who for months have disparaged their effort.

The bill would force the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison. Information about Epstein’s victims or ongoing federal investigations would be allowed to be redacted.

“There could be 100 or more” votes from Republicans, said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., among the lawmakers discussing the legislation on Sunday news show appearances. “I’m hoping to get a veto-proof majority on this legislation when it comes up for a vote.”

Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a discharge petition in July to force a vote on their bill. That is a rarely successful tool that allows a majority of members to bypass House leadership and force a floor vote.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had panned the discharge petition effort and sent members home early for their August recess when the GOP’s legislative agenda was upended in the clamoring for an Epstein vote. Democrats also contend the seating of Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., was stalled to delay her becoming the 218th member to sign the petition and gain the threshold needed to force a vote. She became the 218th signature moments after taking the oath of office last week.

Massie said Johnson, Trump and others who have been critical of his efforts would be “taking a big loss this week.”

“I’m not tired of winning yet, but we are winning,” Massie said.

The view from GOP leadership

Johnson seems to expect the House will decisively back the Epstein bill.

“We’ll just get this done and move it on. There’s nothing to hide,” adding that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been releasing “far more information than the discharge petition, their little gambit.”

The vote comes at a time when new documents are raising fresh questions about Epstein and his associates, including a 2019 email that Epstein wrote to a journalist that said Trump “knew about the girls.” The White House has accused Democrats of selectively leaking the emails to smear the Republican president.

Johnson said Trump “has nothing to hide from this.”

“They’re doing this to go after President Trump on this theory that he has something to do with it. He does not,” Johnson said.

Trump’s association with Epstein is well-established and the president’s name was included in records that his own Justice Department released in February as part of an effort to satisfy public interest in information from the sex-trafficking investigation.

Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and the mere inclusion of someone’s name in files from the investigation does not imply otherwise. Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, also had many prominent acquaintances in political and celebrity circles besides Trump.

Khanna voiced more modest expectations on the vote count than Massie. Still, Khanna said he was hoping for 40 or more Republicans to join the effort.

“I don’t even know how involved Trump was,” Khanna said. “There are a lot of other people involved who have to be held accountable.”

Khanna also asked Trump to meet with those who were abused. Some will be at the Capitol on Tuesday for a news conference, he said.

Massie said Republican lawmakers who fear losing Trump’s endorsement because of how they vote will have a mark on their record, if they vote “no,” that could hurt their political prospects in the long term.

“The record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump’s presidency,” Massie said.

A MAGA split

On the Republican side, three Republicans joined with Massie in signing the discharge petition: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

Trump publicly called it quits with Greene last week and said he would endorse a challenger against her in 2026 “if the right person runs.”

Greene attributed the fallout with Trump as “unfortunately, it has all come down to the Epstein files.” She said the country deserves transparency on the issue and that Trump’s criticism of her is confusing because the women she has talked to say he did nothing wrong.

“I have no idea what’s in the files. I can’t even guess. But that is the questions everyone is asking, is, why fight this so hard?” Greene said.

Even if the bill passes the House, there is no guarantee that Senate Republicans will go along. Massie said he just hopes Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., “will do the right thing.”

“The pressure is going to be there if we get a big vote in the House,” Massie said, who thinks “we could have a deluge of Republicans.”

Massie appeared on ABC’s “This Week,” Johnson was on “Fox News Sunday,” Khanna spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and Greene was interviewed on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

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