Wild 5, Blues 4: Boldy's Hat Trick Survives the Last 15 Seconds

October 15, 2026 - St. Paul - Jonatan Berggren had already gone top shelf on the backhand 1:45 in. Then Matt Boldy one-timed a 5-on-3, and Grand Casino Arena spent the rest of the night watching Minnesota's top line chase St. Louis around until the hats came down.

The Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4. Minnesota is 5-2-1, 3-0-0 at home, three wins in four. St. Louis is 3-3-1, points in three straight (2-0-1) until this one, the NHL recap said. Shots were 38-25 Minnesota. Attendance was 18,623. Berggren, Dylan Holloway, Cam Fowler, Maxim Shabanov, Yakov Trenin, and Michael McCarron are not seeded on AthX player pages, so those names stay unlinked.

Boldy had three goals and an assist, his fifth NHL hat trick. Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists. Quinn Hughes had two assists. Joel Eriksson Ek had two assists. Danila Yurov scored. Jesper Wallstedt stopped 21 of 25. Robert Thomas had a goal and an assist. Fowler had three assists. Joel Hofer stopped 33 of 38.

5-on-3, Yurov, then the second-period tilt

Boldy tied it at 7:31, a quick slap on a 5-on-3 from Hughes and Eriksson Ek. The NHL recap said Hughes' helper was the 200th power-play assist of his career. Yurov made it 2-1 at 11:17 from the high slot off Shabanov, Trenin the other assist.

Mason McTavish tied it 2-2 at 4:57 of the second, a backhand from Pius Suter and Colton Parayko. Twenty-seven seconds later Boldy scored again, a snap off a turnover, Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov. 3-2. Thomas told NHL.com they were chasing that top line around and made it too easy.

Kaprizov made it 4-2 at 8:47. He passed to Hughes, then tipped it in front. Boldy the other assist. His ninth of the season, league-high, the AP recap said. Hughes told NHL.com the more reps they get, the more they read off each other, and when they are out there together they tilt the ice.

Boldy finished the hat trick at 16:47 from the left dot, a no-look backhand from Kaprizov, McCarron the other helper. Hats. The AP recap said he is the third-fastest active American skater to five hat tricks (369 games), behind Tage Thompson (279) and Jason Robertson (363). He has five goals in four games after zero points in the first four, the NHL recap said.

Thomas short-handed, Holloway at 19:45, still 5-4

Thomas scored short-handed at 16:00 of the third from Fowler. The NHL landing lists the short-handed modifier. 5-3. Hofer went to the bench. Holloway scored at 19:45 from Thomas and Fowler. 5-4. Fifteen seconds left. Wallstedt held it.

John Hynes told NHL.com they were stingy and organized. Jim Montgomery liked the fight at the end and not the easy night they gave Minnesota's top line. Pavel Buchnevich did not play. He returned home for the birth of his child, the AP recap said.

Hughes opened the season with an assist in eight straight, tied with Filip Kuba (2008-09) for the second-longest such run by a defenseman, the NHL recap said. His eight-game point streak (two goals, 10 assists) passed Andrew Brunette for the longest season-opening streak in Wild history. Kaprizov reached 50 career three-point games, first in franchise history. Boldy has six career four-point games, second to Marian Gaborik's seven.

AthX Engine on a 19.80 hat trick

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) scored Boldy at 19.80 (three goals, an assist, eight shots, one power-play bonus). Kaprizov is 12.00. Thomas is 9.30 once the short-handed bonus from the landing is applied. Fowler is 9.30 on three assists. Wallstedt is 6.60 (win, 21 saves, four goals against). Minnesota's team line is 19.00. St. Louis's regulation loss is 3.80.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for a Boldy who went quiet for four games and then took over a 5-4. They are not the same number.

Track Boldy, Kaprizov, Hughes, and both clubs on the marketplace. St. Louis visits Nashville on Saturday. Columbus visits Minnesota on Sunday.

*Sources: AP recap (ESPN), ESPN box score, NHL.com recap, NHL.com scoreboard, ESPN NHL scoreboard. AthX Engine fantasy points scored from NHL gamecenter box 2026020116. Information only; not financial advice.*