ST. PAUL, Minn. — Todd Boldy loves his black TravisMathew Wild hat, which he calls his “good hat.” Plus, it cost him 50 bucks.

As much as he loves his son Matt, there was no way he was going to throw it onto Xcel Energy Center’s ice.

So Monday night, after Matt scored his second goal late in the second period against the Seattle Kraken and Todd saw the flex of Matt’s stick, the snap of his shot and the look on his face, the police officer from Massachusetts ran to a merch stand between periods to buy a cheaper Wild hat in case his son scored a hat trick.

Advertisement

“No, not in case,” the elder Boldy said, correcting my words. “Because I knew he was getting a hat trick. You could just tell. You could just tell. He was on fire. He was confident. You could see it in those eyes.”

Sure enough, just 50 seconds into the third period and instants after Todd Boldy returned to his seat three rows behind the glass in the Wild’s shoot-twice end, the scorching-hot Matt Boldy recorded his second hat trick in five games and third of his career right in front of his dad’s eyes.

So Todd threw the “cheaper” $35 red hat he had just bought.

It hit the netting. The guy in front of him picked it up and gave it a fling.

One problem: “It still had the little loop thing that they hang it with in the store, so it got stuck in the net,” Todd Boldy said, shaking his head. “So, guess what I did next?

“I had to throw my good one.”

The red hat hung stuck in the netting till the final horn of the Wild’s 5-1 win over the Kraken, a team Minnesota could face in the first round of the playoffs if the division leaders win their second division title in history.

But good news: After the game, a worker pulled the red hat off the netting and Boldy’s dad was at least able to recover that one, which he proudly put back on his head above the green Reverse Retro No. 12 “Boldy” sweater he was wearing to honor his dialed-in boy.

“I’ve seen that look on his face before,” Todd Boldy said of his 21-year-old son, who’s in the final year of his entry-level contract before his seven-year, $49 million contract kicks in next season. “You can tell by the look in his eye and just his confidence skating that he was, as you said, dialed in.”

Dialed in may be an understatement.

The Wild, a league-best 15-1-4 in their past 20 games, are 6-1-2 without superstar Kirill Kaprizov. Boldy has 11 goals and 15 points in those nine games.

His second @Enterprise hat trick in five games.

Matt Boldy is RED HOT. 🥵

— NHL (@NHL) March 28, 2023

How hot is he right now?

Advertisement

• Per NHL Stats, in the 22-year history of the Wild, Eric Staal is the only other Wild skater to score 11 goals in nine games.

• Boldy (21 years, 356 days) recorded his third career hat trick. Only Marian Gaborik (five) has more at age 21 or younger for the Wild.

• Boldy became the fourth U.S.-born player to record three hat tricks before age 22 (Jimmy Carson, seven; Alex DeBrincat, four; and Jeremy Roenick, four).

• Boldy joined Kaprizov (Feb. 26 vs. Columbus) as the second Wild player this season to record a natural hat trick. It’s the first time in franchise history that two players achieved the feat in the same year.

• Nine games ago, Boldy had 17 goals in 65 games. That was a 21-goal pace. He’s now two from 30.

Has he ever been this dialed in?

“I don’t think so, no,” Boldy said. “Just, it’s going in.”

Asked by a reporter whether that includes on his driveway as a kid, Boldy said, “Maybe playing by myself, but that’s about it.”

If you’ve been around Boldy, he doesn’t love talking about himself. He’s always quick to laud linemates Marcus Johansson and Joel Eriksson Ek. Each forward, along with defenseman Jared Spurgeon, had two assists Monday, with Johansson and Eriksson Ek combining for 19 points in the nine games Kaprizov’s been out and Boldy’s caught fire.

Boldy quickly pointed out Johansson and Eriksson Ek put the puck on a tee for him on the first and third goals and Eriksson Ek won the faceoff before his second.

“Hopefully you guys are giving them a lot of credit,” Boldy said. “Those guys are playing awesome.”

The Wild got off to a slow start against a terrific road team (24-10-4, 7-0-1 in their past eight). With Marc-Andre Fleury (8-0-1 in his past nine) saving the day at every turn en route to a 35-save performance and 544th career win (seven behind Patrick Roy for second all-time), Jake Middleton scored his first goal in 47 games before Boldy went to work.

Advertisement

“I actually told Bolds he didn’t really do anything on the goal, but we had JoJo with the skate up the wall and Spurge making a great pass (and) Ekky screening,” Middleton said, laughing. “And then Bolds made me eat my words the rest of the game because he sure looked like he knew what he was doing.”

Jake Middleton steps up and wires one past Grubauer's glove to open up the scoring for Minnesota!#mnwild

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) March 28, 2023

He sure did.

“Fun to watch. Fun to watch,” Fleury said. “He’s big. He controls the puck a lot. He’s got a good shot, good release. He’s smart. He switches it up. He’s got good moves on breakaways. He’s a total player. Fun to watch him grow this year.”

It wasn’t long ago that naysayers were nitpicking parts of Boldy’s game, especially his lack of production (one goal in 18 games before this hot streak) and tendency to over-pass. Coach Dean Evason said the coaches “took turns” meeting with Boldy to implore him to shoot more.

“It looks like he’s trying to throw it through the net, which is great,” Evason said. “He has such a gifted shot, and when he shoots it like he does, obviously he’s able to score.”

Now he’s on fire, and he says he’s the same person.

“Same kid I was in February when things weren’t going in, so I think the more you just kind of stick with who you are and don’t change much, the better,” Boldy said.

Todd Boldy says that’s always been his son.

“Matt’s always been levelheaded. And even-keeled,” he said. “He looks at his game not by how many points he gets but more (by) how’s he playing. Is he productive on the ice and a good teammate?”

Middleton said the Wild are trying to rediscover the solid game they were playing early in their hot streak and want to show potential first-round opponents like the Kraken and Avalanche, who they play Wednesday, their best.

Advertisement

“I don’t think tonight is what we’d want to set the tone with against a team like Seattle,” Middleton said. “I think we all know we have a lot better than we showed tonight. The Matt Boldy and the Flower show really did it for us tonight.”

Marc-Andre Fleury with 35 amazing saves tonight including this stunner! His 544th career win! #FlowerPower🌸

— Allan Walsh (@walsha) March 28, 2023

The other night, when Todd Boldy was in town for the Wild’s win against Chicago, he got to hang out with his son at Mason Shaw and Connor Dewar’s home. Middleton lives across the street and was also hanging out.

At 3 a.m., Todd was ready to hit the sack and return to Matt’s apartment. Matt told his dad he was going to sleep over.

As Todd was heading out the door, Matt said to his father, “Text me when you get home.”

Todd had an epiphany: “It was suddenly like he was the father and I was the son.”

Todd smiled. “We look out for each other,” he said.

Todd was beaming after watching his son’s latest brilliance.

Asked how proud he was, Todd’s face turned serious. “It’s fun to watch him succeed,” he said. “People say, ‘You must be so proud.’

“To me, pride is taking pride in my accomplishments. What do you as an individual achieve in life, and you take pride in that. This is more being happy for him because he’s working. He’s living it. I’m not living it. It’s nice to finally sit back and relax and just be the fly on the wall and watch him enjoy what he does for a living.”

Todd smiled once more.

Then he grabbed the red hat that spent 19 minutes and 10 seconds stuck on the netting and placed it on his head.

At least he got a souvenir despite throwing away the “good hat.”

Kaprizov expected to skate this week

Kaprizov will begin skating this week, general manager Bill Guerin said, with the hope of returning in the final week of the regular season.

Advertisement

Gustav Nyquist is practicing and taking part in every morning skate. He seems unlimited and just needs to get medically cleared for contact to test his shoulder before making his Wild debut.

John Klingberg (upper body) could return in Colorado. … Ryan Reaves sustained an upper-body injury in the second period. He had to exit after playing two shifts in the third.

(Top photo: Matt Blewett / USA Today)