During Wild’s injury woes, Matt Boldy blocked out the noise
LAS VEGAS Just across the street from the Vegas Golden Knights home arena amid the sights and sounds and sunshine that are everyday parts of life in this corner of the Nevada desert is a rollercoaster The cars painted to look like taxis dive and turn and wind their way around and through the New York New York Hotel and Casino The Wild s season has been like that ride with injuries to key players altering the unit s direction with sharp turns and dives but Matt Boldy did his best not to notice No matter what was happening around him the right wing maintained an even keel and a mental resolve that is paying dividends in Round of the NHL playoffs After leading the club offensively while playing all regular season games Boldy has averaged a goal per competition in the first quartet of meetings with Vegas while making on-ice magic with linemate Kirill Kaprizov Those guys bring it every night whether the puck is going in or not Wild defenseman Brock Faber stated They re the hardest workers and the preponderance skilled players When you ve got two guys who have both of those traits they re hard to stop and we re hard to beat Meeting was set for late Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena But as Boldy regains his chemistry with with Kaprizov who missed months with a lower body injury a telling of the season s story would not be complete without acknowledging the doldrums of February and March when Boldy went through a lengthy streak without scoring and needed particular real mental resolve to work through the on-ice challenges While putting pucks in the net will unfailingly be the primary reason that Boldy was a first-round pick in Wild coach John Hynes has seen myriad contributions that Boldy can make to the overall crew effort even in those times when he is not appearing in the event summary I ve just seen a guy that values winning and understands and believes that he can help the company win in multiple avenues Hynes commented Obviously scoring and point production are one of Matt s strengths and something that he wants to do and we need him to do But if sometimes the puck doesn t go in for you I think what he s learning now is the impact he can have on the club with how he checks and how he competes and his body language When it s not going right for him in that area there s no drop-off in his encounter Originally from the East Coast Boldly is the son of a small town police officer who played college football at Maine After dabbling in Massachusetts high school hockey Boldly got an invite to USA Hockey s National Gang Expansion Venture in Michigan where he was teammates with current NHLers like Jack Hughes Cole Caufield and Trevor Zegras among others After two years at Boston College and his professional debut Boldy displayed enough promise to be awarded a seven-year million contract that will have him in green and red until he is With Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek out of the lineup for key stretches this winter the spotlight switched to Boldy as someone expected unrealistically to take on the burden of all of the missing offense On nights when his work was not chronicled on the scoresheet Boldy drew specific ire from keyboard warriors various of them noting his sizable contract For his part Boldy kept even keel taking a business-like approach to the nightly effort to try to win games and keep the Wild afloat in the standings until they got healthier It is what it is he would often say with a shrug He s a young member in the league and you re going to go through that as a young guy commented Wild forward Justin Brazeau who joined Minnesota at the transaction deadline He s done a really good job of just sticking with it I don t think his match has changed whether he was going through those challenges or playing well He s stayed the same Hockey s like that sometimes After lighting up the scoreboard in the series first three games as Minnesota took a - lead the combination of Boldy and Kaprizov was held to just one assist in the - overtime loss to Vegas in Battle But as has been his hallmark all season Boldy has focused on the task at hand You ve gotta win four games it doesn t matter when or how So you know just stay positive keep going he noted after scoring his organization s only two goals in Encounter Take the good and work on the bad I guess and go from there With various major teammates healthy and by his side there has been more good than bad for Boldy in these playoffs Related Articles Wild s Marcus Foligno has been at his best in the playoffs Even after tough loss Hynes confidence in Wild remains unshakable Buium s penalty part of the learning curve for Wild rookie John Shipley Wild s penalty kill has been a series killer for too long Knights rally for OT win in Challenge to tie playoff series -all with Wild
