Boldy has ‘it factor’

Time was ticking down to the end of the first overtime period in Game 4. Matt Boldy was in the corner of the Dallas end battling for the puck.

Boldy got free as Kirill Kaprizov sent the puck toward the blue line. Jared Spurgeon sent a shot toward the net just as Boldy was in the perfect spot to tip it past goaltender Jake Oettinger for the overtime winner to tie the playoff series at two games apiece. Boldy’s celebration was worthy, too, throwing his arms in the air, with an open-mouthed grin pasted on his face before a slight but enthusiastic leap into the corner boards. 

The type of clutch, overtime goal a young Boldy saw in his dreams? Well, sort of. 

“No, I was probably going back-in, toe-drag, through the legs in the driveway,” Boldy said. “But there’s no pictures on the scoresheet, so I was happy to see it go in.

“It was a great forecheck by Ekky (Joel Eriksson Ek) and Kirill, and a great shot by Jared (Spurgeon), and I was just lucky enough to have it hit my stick and go in.”

Luck and favorable bounces are certainly a factor in the playoffs. But Wild coach John Hynes credits Boldy’s personality trait for both earning and taking advantage of the big-game moments. 

“He can play when the heat gets turned up,” Hynes said. “I think that’s what makes him special.”

He also earns those moments with the way he plays, competes and continues to grow and develop as a player. 

“He is a guy that has the ‘it factor,’” Hynes said. “I’ve seen him time and time again continue to play and come through in clutch situations.”  

Boldy’s “it factor” has shown up throughout this season as one of the Wild’s leading scorers with a career-high 42 goals, including 11 on the power play, and career-high 85 points in his fourth full NHL season. Opposing teams don’t want to let him get a breakaway, or chances are that the puck will end up in the back of their net. 

His power-play numbers in the regular season were all career-best marks, plus he scored four short-handed goals, tied for second-best in the NHL. He was second in team scoring behind Kirill Kaprizov. 

Boldy’s overtime winner in Game 4 put him in elite company as the fifth Wild player to score such a goal during a home playoff game. Richard Park (2003), Keith Carney (2008), Jason Zucker (2013) and Mikael Granlund (2014) all scored home overtime winners in the first round of the playoffs.

Boldy is the first player to win a Game 4 in overtime for the Wild. The home fans let him hear it, with exuberant cheers at the end after previously chanting “Boldy! Boldy!” during play throughout the game. 

“It’s pretty cool to kind of look around and take it in a bit,” Boldy said. “The fans have been into it, passionate, and after Moose scored that one to tie it up, that was probably the loudest I’ve ever heard it.” 

Marcus Foligno, who scored the tying goal with 5:20 to play in the third period of Game 4, said Boldy was “a beast” and “a big, big, bigtime player” from the start of the Wild season to his contributions at the Olympics to becoming an overtime hero in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

“I think we all saw it when he kind of came into the league, and now he’s just flourished into it,” Foligno said. 

Boldy was already having one of his best seasons when he joined Team USA at the Olympics this winter. He gave the United States a 1-0 lead six minutes into the gold medal game against Canada, splitting the defenders and flicking a backhand shot into the net. He’s no stranger to international competition, having played in previous IIHF World Championships and the 2025 Four Nations Face-Off. 

Those experiences help Boldy, especially in terms of the mental game and confidence.

“But in terms of not letting the moment get too big or get the best of you, I think that has gone a long way for us,” Boldy said. “I think the standard that we have for our teammates and each other I think is another big thing.”

As Foligno noted, Boldy stands at about 6-4 on skates, and he doesn’t shy away from physicality either. He took a hit up high from Jamie Benn in Game 3 and later returned picking up his game right where he left off. He defends himself in scrums, as evidenced in the final moments of the last regular-season meeting between the Wild and Stars in early April. Then he took a few crosschecks in the corner before breaking free toward the net for the winning tip in Game 4.

“That’s the type of player that you build teams around,” Foligno said. “He’s that guy. He doesn’t pout, doesn’t whine, and he just takes it… first period, he goes and hits a guy, too, and that just fires us up. 

“So, Bolds plays a big-man game, and that’s what his whole career is going to be around. There’s nothing better than doing it in high-stake moments.”

On the OT-winning play, Spurgeon saw Boldy come out of the battle in the corner, then took a shot from out near the blue line. He added that Boldy tips pucks in at practice all the time. 

“It was Bolds and Ekky, two big bodies that usually get a stick on it, so just tried to throw it there and obviously Bolds made a great play,” Spurgeon said. 

It was Boldy’s third goal of the series, after his three-point night to start the series in the Wild’s 6-1 win. 

Boldy’s had plenty of other chances to score in the series, including a puck that went in the net with 5:24 left in overtime of Game 4. Brock Faber’s shot bounced around Boldy near the crease. The play was immediately waved off after the puck went in on Boldy’s kicking motion, which seemed more like a reflex as he tried to stay on his feet. 

He also nearly finished off a play for a shorthanded goal that would have given the Wild a two-goal lead late in Game 3. As it was, he came back to the game after taking the hit to later set up Eriksson Ek’s goal to tie the game early in the second period. 

“He’s a competitive guy and wants to be a difference maker out there,” said Quinn Hughes. “He’s ultra competitive, he wants to win. I think that’s what you saw, a guy trying to make a play.”

It’s a stark progression of playoff production for Boldy, who scored one goal in his playoff debut in 2022, then recorded three assists with a minus-5 rating in the 2023 series against the Stars. Last year, he scored five goals and seven points in six games against Vegas. 

Headed into Game 5 this time around, he has three goals, two assists and is a plus-6. 

Hynes said Boldy is a microcosm of the Wild team, which just kept playing and kept getting good looks at the net, despite any adversity. 

“He’s a tenacious competitor,” Hynes said, after Game 4. “He just continues to do the right things. He continues to play, he continues to push. Plays through whatever the circumstances are and got a huge goal for us.”