Boldy's hat trick holds: Minnesota Wild 5-4 St. Louis Blues

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Four of the nine goals at Xcel Energy Center carried one name: Matt Boldy. The Minnesota winger scored three times and set up another, and Minnesota Wild needed every one of them to hold off St. Louis Blues 5-4.

The night started badly for the home side. Bobby Brink went to the box after a minute and Jonatan Berggren struck at the two-minute mark, Dalibor Dvorsky assisting. Boldy leveled at 8 from Quinn Hughes, Danila Yurov put Minnesota ahead at 12 off Yakov Trenin, and the first period closed 2-1 with both teams already shorthanded twice.

The middle frame decided it. Mason McTavish tied it at 25, Pius Suter with the setup, and Minnesota answered a minute later — Boldy again at 26 from Joel Eriksson Ek. Kirill Kaprizov struck at 29, Hughes assisting again, and Boldy completed the hat trick at 37 off Kaprizov's feed. Three goals in eleven minutes, 5-2, game seemingly done.

St. Louis had other ideas. Robert Thomas beat Jesper Wallstedt at 56, Cam Fowler picking up his third assist, and Dylan Holloway made it 5-4 at the 60-minute mark, Thomas turning provider. Wallstedt's 21 saves and the final buzzer were all that separated the Blues from a fourth.

Boldy finished with three goals, one assist and eight shots, his hat trick wrapped around Kaprizov's three-point night. Fowler's three assists went for nothing, Joel Hofer's 33 saves went unrewarded, and the Wild's power play went 1-for-5 against St. Louis's 1-for-2.

A four-goal second period, a two-goal Blues surge in the third, and Boldy's name on four of nine scoresheet entries: the Wild survived, barely, and St. Louis left St. Paul holding nothing but the last five minutes.