Matt Boldy scored a hat trick as the visiting Minnesota Wild rallied to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Thursday night.
Boldy received a drop pass from Ryan Hartman and slipped a wrist shot under the glove of Stolarz for a 3-2 Wild lead 3:59 into the third period. William Nylander and Oliver Ekman-Larsson both eased off their defensive coverage, allowing Boldy ample time to complete his sixth career hat trick.
Kirill Kaprizov recorded three assists and Danila Yurov had a goal and an assist as the Wild won for the fifth time in six games. Michael McCarron also scored for Minnesota. Jesper Wallstedt made 26 saves to earn his league-leading 13th win.
Zack MacEwen led Toronto with a goal and an assist. Auston Matthews scored his first goal of November. Anthony Stolarz stopped 21 shots as the Maple Leafs lost their fifth straight game and seventh in eight outings.
Minnesota opened the scoring 17:53 into the first period. Boldy picked off Troy Stecher’s errant outlet pass, exchanged passes with Kaprizov in front of the net and flicked the puck over Stolarz’s glove.
The Maple Leafs caught the Wild on a bad line change 4:05 into the second period. Darren Raddysh sent a long stretch pass to MacEwen, who delivered a delicate saucer pass to Matthews streaking toward the net. Toronto’s captain pulled the puck onto his forehand and flipped it into the roof of the net to make it 1-1.
MacEwen put Toronto ahead 2-1. Teddy Blueger gained the zone and dropped the puck to MacEwen in the faceoff circle, where he fired a shot over Wallstedt’s shoulder 6:59 into the middle frame.
Boldy scored his second of the night on a power play, exchanging passes with Quinn Hughes at the point before blasting a booming one-timer past Stolarz to tie it 2-2 at 9:55 of the second.
McCarron extended Minnesota’s lead to 4-2 with a rebound goal from the doorstep 7:34 into the third. Yurov added an empty-net goal with 57 seconds remaining.
Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek did not return after a heavy collision with Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe in the second period.
