Matt Boldy's fifth career hat trick lifts Minnesota Wild past St. Louis Blues 5-4
Boldy scored three times and finished with four points as Minnesota survived two late St. Louis goals in St. Paul.
The Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4 in St. Paul on Thursday, October 15, as Matt Boldy scored his fifth career hat trick and finished with four points. St. Louis scored twice in the final four minutes, but Minnesota held on for the win.
How Boldy built his hat trick
Boldy scored once in the first period and twice in the second. His third goal came late in the second period on a pass from Kirill Kaprizov, completing the hat trick before the Blues' late push. Kaprizov also scored his league-leading ninth goal and added two assists, while Danila Yurov supplied Minnesota's other goal.
The scoring run followed a quiet start for Boldy. He had gone without a point in Minnesota's first four games, then scored five goals over the next four, the Pioneer Press reported. His four-point night against St. Louis marked the latest step in that turnaround.
Quinn Hughes assisted on two goals and extended his season-opening point streak to eight games, a Wild franchise record, according to the Associated Press. Minnesota's previous game was a 5-2 loss at Winnipeg on Tuesday, October 13.
Blues' late goals test Minnesota's lead
Robert Thomas scored for St. Louis with four minutes remaining, and the Blues added another goal with 15 seconds left. The second goal brought them within one, but Minnesota kept its lead through the final seconds. Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt made 20 saves; Joel Hofer made 33 for St. Louis.
Minnesota played with an injury-depleted lineup. The Pioneer Press reported that three defensemen, three forwards and a goalie were unavailable because of various injuries. St. Louis was without Pavel Buchnevich, who had returned home for the birth of his child, according to the Associated Press. Both teams had to adjust their lineups for the game in St. Paul.
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Sources and context
- Matt Boldy has 5th career hat trick and Wild beat Blues 5-4Associated Press, republished by Yahoo Sports
- Matt Boldy gets tricky as Wild survive late Blues pushPioneer Press (Jess Myers)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.