The Minnesota Wild held off a late St. Louis Blues rally to win 5-4 on Thursday at Grand Casino Arena, with Matt Boldy scoring a hat trick and adding an assist for a four-point night. The result pushed Minnesota to 5-2-1 while St. Louis dropped to 3-3-1.
Boldy’s third goal of the night, at 16:47 of the second period gave Minnesota a 5-2 lead heading into the third. Robert Thomas scored short-handed at 16:00 of the third to cut it to 5-3, and Dylan Holloway added a goal with 15 seconds left with the Blues’ net empty to make it 5-4, pulling St. Louis within one before Minnesota closed it out. Cam Fowler finished with three assists for the Blues, who got 33 saves from goaltender Joel Hofer.
Key Moments That Decided The Game
Jonatan Berggren opened the scoring just 1:45 into the game, converting a power-play chance with a backhand shot over the shoulder of Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt. Boldy answered at 7:31, snapping a quick slap shot past Hofer during a 5-on-3 advantage to tie it 1-1. Danila Yurov then put Minnesota ahead for good at 11:17, scoring from the high slot off a rush feed from Maxim Shabanov.
The second period turned into a track meet. Mason McTavish tied it 2-2 at 4:57, but Boldy struck again just 27 seconds later to put Minnesota back in front 3-2. Kirill Kaprizov made it 4-2 at 8:47 with his ninth goal of the season, tipping in a pass after Quinn Hughes drew the assist. Boldy capped his hat trick at 16:47 for a 5-2 cushion heading into the third period.
Top Performers
Boldy led all skaters with four points on three goals and an assist. Kaprizov finished with a goal and two assists. Quinn Hughes recorded an assist that extended his season-opening point streak to eight games, the longest such run in Wild history, surpassing Andrew Brunette’s seven-game streak from 2009-10. Hughes’ eight-game assist streak also tied Filip Kuba’s 2008-09 mark for the second-longest by a defenseman in NHL history.
Wallstedt stopped 21 shots for Minnesota. For St. Louis, Thomas finished with a goal and an assist, Fowler collected three assists and Hofer made 33 saves in the loss.
Standing And Takeaway
Minnesota improved to 5-2-1 and pulled within a point of first-place Utah in the Central Division. St. Louis fell to 3-3-1 but has earned points in three straight games (2-0-1).
The Wild outshot the Blues 38-25 despite Minnesota’s 41.8% faceoff win rate. St. Louis’ power play went 1-for-2; Minnesota converted once on five chances.
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