Matt Boldy’s hat trick gets Wild started to 6-5 victory in Nashville

The fastest hat trick to begin a game in Wild history wasn’t enough to faze the Nashville Predators, so the Wild used another overtime effort to get the job done.

Captain Jared Spurgeon scored a walk-off with 46 seconds to go in OT after three first-period goals from Matt Boldy got the Wild started in a 6-5 victory on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at Bridgestone Arena.

That extended the Wild’s win streak to five in their last game before the Olympics.

“It’s been going great,” Boldy told reporters in Nashville. “We’ve been stringing wins together and finding different ways to win. A lot of different guys [have been] contributing, so definitely a lot of positive there.”

After blowing 2-0 and 3-1 leads, the Wild coughed up a 5-4 advantage late in the third period to go to overtime for a 23rd time, where Spurgeon polished off a 2-on-1 pass from Boldy for his sixth career OT goal.

“Just tried to get it off before any stick got on me,” Spurgeon said.

Yakov Trenin and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for the Wild, who are 8-1-1 in their past 10 games.

Filip Gustavsson stopped 30 shots, as Jesper Wallstedt and Marcus Foligno remained sidelined sick, but the Wild did get Daemon Hunt back after Hunt left the previous game early after taking a puck to the throat.

Wild-Predators scoring summary

Almost half of the Wild’s lineup is going to Italy for the Winter Games, but everyone else will get a break before the team reconvenes for the final 24 games of the regular season — a push to the playoffs that’ll resume with the Wild (34-14-10) second in the NHL and Central Division.

“A huge stretch there for us to put ourselves in a good position,” Spurgeon said. “Rest up mentally, physically, obviously cheer on the guys that we have that are representing their countries, and come back for the second half of the year.”

Boldy will join Team USA as the Americans’ leading goal scorer.

“Some confidence, for sure, seeing the puck go in the net,” Boldy said. “But, yeah, I’m super excited for [the Olympics] and this next coming two weeks.”

His first, only 1:49 in, was off a breakaway for the second 30-goal season of his NHL career. Then, at 3:39 on the Wild’s first of two power plays, Boldy redirected in a Hughes pass to score the fastest two goals by one player to ever begin a Wild game.

“Every single night he’s such a threat,” Spurgeon said. “So, we’re glad he’s on our side.”

Nashville responded with its own power play goal at 9:26 when Filip Forsberg pounced on a loose puck in the crease, but Boldy’s dominating period continued: He got on the end of his own rebound at 12:58 to reach 32 goals and edge Zach Parise’s hat trick in 16:33 on March 24, 2016, as the quickest to start a Wild game; only Joel Eriksson Ek (2:18 on April 9, 2025) has had a faster Wild hat trick at any time in a game.

But the Predators weren’t deterred.

Only 41 seconds into the second, the Wild were trailing after Luke Evangelista collected a rebound and deposited it by Gustavsson.

Nashville almost had another soon after, but Spurgeon blocked Forsberg’s shot at an empty net.

“A lot of momentum changes,” Spurgeon said. “I thought we played and had the momentum for some of it, and then they would take over and it was sort of back and forth.”

NHL standings

With 3:54 to go in the second period, the Wild finally caught up to the Predators when captain Roman Josi couldn’t corral the puck and Trenin buried the bobble behind goalie Juuse Saros, who made 38 saves.

The Wild moved ahead 5-4 on a fluky own goal: Tarasenko’s shot banked in off the skate of Nashville’s Nick Blankenburg with 4:46 remaining in the third.

But after a missed off-side against the Predators, Nashville also benefited from a bounce off a skate when Josi’s shot deflected in off Eriksson Ek just 34 seconds later.

That led to extra hockey for the Wild for the fifth time in the last seven games, and the Wild knew how to handle it.

Spurgeon tied Matt Dumba for the second-most OT goals in franchise history behind Kirill Kaprizov’s 14. The Wild’s nine overtime victories are tied for first in the NHL, and their 13 combined victories in OT or a shootout are the most.

Boldy’s four-point game tied his career high.

The Wild’s 23 overtime games are tied with the Kings for the most in the league.

Momentum might not stick around through a three-week hiatus, but the Wild will return in a great situation.

They’re ahead of Dallas, which is no small feat because the Stars haven’t lost much either, and even once-uncatchable Colorado is within reach with only a three-point cushion.

The climb the Wild are on has turned the top of the NHL and Central Division into a race to the finish line.