ST. PAUL, Minn. — Midway through the second period, this one didn’t look good for the Minnesota Wild.
The New York Islanders scored three straight to take a 3-1 lead, including two in the first seven minutes of the second. The third one came from captain Anders Lee after a failed clearing attempt by Mats Zuccarello, who broke his stick on the crossbar in frustration.
But Minnesota didn’t fold.
“We didn’t get down,” Yakov Trenin said.
The Wild’s response was impressive, scoring five unanswered goals for a 6-3 victory at Xcel Energy Center. They enter the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off having won five of their last seven, putting them in third place in the Central Division.
The Islanders were coming off a game in Winnipeg the night before, and the Wild’s commitment and work ethic helped them turn the tide. Matt Boldy had two goals, with Trenin scoring the game winner on a tip late in the second.
“I’m sure you guys noticed I wasn’t very good — we were in the same boat,” Boldy said. “For us, we knew it wasn’t good enough. That wasn’t going to win us the game. We were able to turn the page and get back to how we play. Play hard and simple, that was the key.”
After the Wild lost the final two games of their last trip in Ottawa and Boston, they found a way to temporarily solve their struggles at home by beating two good teams to end this stretch of the schedule (Hurricanes and Islanders).
Goalie Filip Gustavsson was sharp in both games, but it was a strong collective effort. Marco Rossi, Freddy Gaudreau and Marcus Foligno had the other goals Saturday. They were playing short-handed again, as Joel Eriksson Ek was a scratch due to a lower-body injury, leaving the Wild to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
The break comes at a good time for Minnesota, which finds itself in a pretty good spot in the standings.
“I think it’s exciting,” coach John Hynes said. “That we put a lot of hard work in, and when you come back from this break, you’ll be coming into the best time of the year. Twenty-seven games down the stretch. High stakes, competitive. We earned the position that we’re in.”
Matt Boldy 🚨🚨 #mnwild
Hatty Watch 🎩👀 pic.twitter.com/78Y5lK5Avw— MN State of Hockey (@MinnesotaSOH) February 9, 2025
A better Boldy
No one player is going to replace Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild’s injured superstar.
But if there’s anyone who has the talent to help carry a team offensively, it’s Boldy. And that’s why Saturday night’s game was an encouraging one. Boldy admittedly wasn’t good early in the game, but he found a way to step up and score a couple of key goals to spark the come-from-behind victory.
Boldy snapped his second nine-game goal drought of the season with two goals Saturday. Even though Boldy pointed out his second one was “lucky” — an own goal by the Islanders’ Tony DeAngelo — it was the power move he made to set it all up (after creating a turnover) that was indicative of how much of an impact he can have.
Per NHL Stats, Boldy joins Kaprizov as the only two players in franchise history to have three straight 20-goal seasons. “Bolds has the talent and the skill and the drive to be a game-changing player,” Hynes said. “At times, like any player, sometimes he’s playing to his true identity, which is a dominant player, and he was able to get to that game in the second half of the game. … It wasn’t going well for him early in the game, some of it was self-inflicted. But when we needed him, he came through for us.”
We’re having so much fun 😁 pic.twitter.com/709MZTq4QM
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 9, 2025
Trenin’s turnaround
It was about two weeks ago when Hynes scratched Trenin, hoping it would be a “reset.” The Wild wanted their big offseason acquisition (four years, $14 million) to do what he does best: be a physical force in the offensive zone, move his feet, be hard to play against. And Trenin seemed to have gotten the message.
It’s not just the production — two assists in the win in Montreal, a goal in games on Thursday and Saturday. But Trenin’s goal Saturday was a reflection of his style — being a menace around the net, hustling for position and making a sneaky skilled tip. He had a career-high eight shots on goal.
“I think (Trenin) handled (the scratch) well,” Hynes said. “He understood what we were looking for and what he needs to do. (Saturday) was much more indicative of the player that he is. He’s a guy that, the more competitive the game is, the better player he is. He plays really well late in the season and in the playoffs. He’s a big strong guy. It’s nice to see the response to that and take the lesson out of it.”
Trenin said it helped that he got to play more Saturday (14:44) as the team went with 11 forwards. “When you play more, you feel better,” he said. As for the response to the scratch, Trenin said, “I got angry a bit because I didn’t agree to being sit. But I can use it after that in my favor.”
Eriksson Ek’s injury
Eriksson Ek was scratched for Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury, but Hynes said their concern level for it is low. Hynes said Eriksson Ek was always going to be questionable for this game, and the injury is unrelated to the previous lower-body ailment he was dealing with.
As for the 4 Nations Face-Off, which Eriksson Ek is scheduled to play for Sweden, Hynes said, “As of now, he’s planning on going. … It’s one of those things where he wasn’t right to play tonight but it’s not a major concern.” Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin and Gustavsson are scheduled to fly Sunday to join Sweden, with Brock Faber and Boldy going to play for the United States.
As for other injury updates, Hynes said Jakub Lauko, who had an MRI earlier this week, is expected to join the team for practice once it resumes on Feb. 18. Kaprizov, one week removed from his lower-body surgery, is not going to be practicing by then, Hynes said. Kaprizov’s absence was initially put at a minimum of four weeks.
(Photo of Matt Boldy after his second goal against the Islanders: Nick Wosika / Imagn Images)
