The Wall of St. Paul was back in Wild’s 5-1, Game 3 victory Saturday

The Wall has been repaired.

Jared Wallstedt was back Saturday and better than ever in the Wild’s 5-1 victory in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series against Colorado.

After getting torched for eight goals in a 9-6 loss in Game 1 last week, the rookie goaltender was back in net Saturday night and a major reason the Wild made this a series with a convincing victory at Grand Casino Arena.

“Well, that’s my job. That’s what I’m supposed to do,” he said after stopping 35 shots. “My job description is pretty easy — stop the puck.”

His biggest, or at least most conspicuous, save came when Parker Kelly found himself alone in the slot with the puck in transition. Kelly moved right and switched to his backhand for a chip shot, but Wallstedt moved with him and got a piece of it with his glove before it caromed off his shoulder and safely away from the net.

The Wild had been playing well, but a quick-strike goal for an early lead dramatically shifts the momentum and sends the Wild back into chase mode after a pair of blowout losses in Denver. Instead, it opened a window for the Wild to build a 3-0 lead.

It also announced that Wallstedt wasn’t fazed by the eight-goal debacle in Game 1, or being replaced by veteran Filip Gustavsson for Game 2. The Wall of St. Paul was back and in form.

“I had no doubt he was going to be back,” coach John Hynes said.

Midway through the second period, after Avs star center Nathan MacKinnon forced a neutral zone turnover, Wallstedt stopped the Colorado superstar on a wrist shot from the right corner — the spot from which the Avalanche routinely thwarted him in Game 1.

As is the case just about anytime a goaltender gets swamped, Wallstedt’s issues in Game 1 were not all on him. The Wild, playing a rested team on a short turnaround, played with zero defensive structure in that game.

It would not have been surprising to see Hynes put Wallstedt back out there for Game 2, but it was a good spot to get Gustavsson into his first playoff game.

“We didn’t play him in Game 2 … for the right reasons, and you see the result tonight,” Hynes said after the Wild cut their series deficit to 2-1 heading into Game 4 Monday in St. Paul. “He’s a competitor. He’s got confidence. He’s been very solid, and I just thought he got right back to his game tonight.”

Wallstedt stopped Nazem Kadri alone from the left circle, and forced MacKinnon wide right on a quick breakaway. He pounced on rebounds or deflected shots to the outside. He was there for every shot on net from the Avalanche after they pulled goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood with 3:31 remaining.

“Even though we generated a lot of opportunities, the secondary opportunities weren’t quite there for us,” said Game 1 hero Cale Makar. “We’re going to continue to get those chances at some point. But tonight, they did a good job.”

The one goal Wallstedt allowed Saturday came on a power play after Wild defenseman Daemon Hunter pushed Colorado captain Gabe Landeskog into the crease. With Wallstedt buried, MacKinnon flipped the puck into an empty net.

And that was it.

“We knew this game was going to be huge for us; it’s either 3-0 or 2-1,” Wallstedt said. “Right now, it feels like we’re right back in it. And I think we proved to everyone, and ourselves, that when we play the right way, when we play the game style that we want to play, we’re just as good as anyone else — and especially these guys.”

Shots fired. But that’s confidence, and the Wild did what they wanted on Saturday.

“I think we showed a different style, the style we want to play,” the goalie added, “and I think it was successful.”