Matt Boldy highlighted his NHL debut in his hometown arena with his first career goal to help the Minnesota Wild snap a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the host Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
Boldy, a 20-year-old from nearby Millis, Mass., who starred at Boston College, took a feed from Marcus Foligno through the slot and ripped his wrist shot into the upper left corner of the net at 12:26 of the second period to extend the Wild's lead to 3-1.
Boldy was recalled from AHL's Iowa to the team's taxi squad on Monday. The left wing was drafted with the No. 12 overall pick by the Wild in the 2019 entry draft.
Kirill Kaprizov and Nico Sturm each had a goal for Minnesota. Kaapo Kahkonen made 36 saves for the Wild, who won for the first time since beating San Jose 5-2 on the road on Dec. 9.
Kaprizov was helped off the ice in the second period after taking a hit near the wall from Boston's Trent Frederic. The left wing was diagnosed with an upper-body injury and did not return.
Brad Marchand scored his team-leading 12th goal and Taylor Hall also lit the lamp for the Bruins. Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 of 30 shots for Boston, which had won three straight games since the NHL's COVID-19 schedule pause.
Boston's top defenseman Charlie McAvoy missed the game with a lower-body injury.
Hall's seventh goal of the season put the Bruins in front 1-0 on a power play at 6:35 of the opening period.
Kaprizov's power-play strike at 15:25 of the opening frame was his 14th goal of the season and tied the game at 1-1. Sturm's sixth goal of the campaign at the 16:48 mark put the Wild ahead 2-1 heading into period two.
After Boldy's goal, Marchand gave the Bruins new hope with his power-play goal at 15:35 of the second to make it 3-2.
With Swayman pulled late, the Bruins failed to net the equalizer as Kahkonen made a handful of key stops in traffic with under five seconds left in the game.
--Field Level Media
Minnesota | Boston | |
Jonas Brodin 2 | Points | Taylor Hall 1 |
Matt Boldy 1 | Goals | Taylor Hall 1 |
Jonas Brodin 2 | Assists | Patrice Bergeron 1 |
Kirill Kaprizov 1 | Power Play Goals | Taylor Hall 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Kaapo Kahkonen .947 | Save Percentage | Jeremy Swayman .900 |
Kaapo Kahkonen 36 | Saves | Jeremy Swayman 27 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Minnesota | 30 | 3 | 2-8 | 3-5 | 22 | 27 |
Boston | 38 | 2 | 2-5 | 6-8 | 28 | 40 |