The Minnesota Wild laid an egg in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, falling by a score of 5-2 to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night. The loss leaves Minnesota in a 3-1 hole in the best-of-seven series and plenty of things to clean up if they want to get out of it. But the biggest problem is Matt Boldy’s performance.
Boldy was on the milk carton in Game 4, logging just one shot on goal and posting a minus-3 rating in 23:51 of ice time. The quiet night has Boldy with just one goal and one assist in the first four games and the lone marker was an empty net goal in the closing seconds of Game 3. Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News also noted that each of Boldy’s past three goals have been empty netters, begging the question of where the Wild star has gone during the series.
With an elimination game approaching, the Wild need to get Boldy going and it may be the difference between coming back to St. Paul for Game 6 or booking a tee time as part of their vacation plans.
Wild have to get Matt Boldy going for any chance to defeat Avalanche
Against the Avalanche, Boldy hasn’t been the blossoming superstar Wild fans have watched for most of the season. He set career highs in goals (42) and points (85) while playing in 76 games but it’s been much more than just lighting up the score sheet. Boldy has become an elite defender, which helped him tuck four shorthanded goals during the regular season and complemented his playmaking ability to record his third straight season with 40 or more assists.
With a highlight reel goal for Team USA during the gold medal game against Canada, Boldy has become a household name and he lived up to that billing in the first-round series against the Dallas Stars, scoring six times. One of those goals was a game-winner in overtime of Game 4 that tied the series at 2-2 and two more came in the series-clinching win in Game 6, establishing momentum going into the series with the Avs.
But instead of thriving, Boldy has been quiet, which makes him a major question as the Wild try to hold off elimination.
A potential reason for his struggles could be the absence of Joel Eriksson Ek. Having the centerman replaced with the talented, but raw, Danila Yurov is a big downgrade. But Boldy’s been able to generate offense on his own before, which hasn’t happened so far against Colorado.
Another reason could be the Avalanche forcing the Wild to beat them with their non-stars. By zeroing in on Boldy, Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes, Minnesota has had to relied on other players to drive their offense. This worked well in Game 1 when neither Kaprizov or Boldy scored in a game where the Wild had six goals (albeit in a 9-6 loss). But it’s also been a problem as five of the Wild’s seven goals in the past three games have come from players not named Hughes, Kaprizov or Boldy.
Hughes has still found a way to impact the Wild and while Kaprizov hasn’t had the perfect series, he’s also shown up at times, scoring in Game 2 and adding a goal and two assists in a Game 3 victory. Even Brock Faber has stepped up a goal and three helpers in the past three games but Boldy has been mysteriously absent outside of turning the puck over to Nathan MacKinnon for a empty net goal in the final minutes.
It’s the type of passenger energy that is normally reserved for other players and you could argue that Boldy has been locked in the trunk as opposed to riding shotgun against the Avs. If the Wild want to make a comeback, the Wild must find a way to unlock Boldy and it starts as the series shifts back to Denver for Game 5.
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