Boldy stepping up, leading playoff push for Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Matt Boldy knows as well as anyone that he needs to contribute on the score sheet.

The 23-year-old forward leads the Minnesota Wild with 56 points (21 goals, 35 assists) in 68 games this season, and his production has been one of the reasons why they sit four points back of the Colorado Avalanche for third place in the Central Division entering their game against the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, FDSNNOX, SN360, TVAS).

However, putting the puck in the back of the net has been a challenge of late for Boldy individually and the Wild as a whole. Minnesota (38-25-5) has scored just nine goals in its past six games (2-3-1), including none in the first period. During that stretch, Boldy has just one even-strength point (an assist).

“This time of year, everyone’s battling for playoff spots,” Boldy said. “You have to find ways to create and hang on to pucks and get stuff to the net and hope it trickles in and stuff like that.

“We've been great defensively. It's hard to score, especially this time of year, but I think we're creating a lot of chances. It's every night we're getting chances, they’re just not going in. So, that seal will break eventually. It's five guys playing defense together, and then that goes a long way.”

A big reason for the lack of goals has been the absence of forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek.

Kaprizov hasn't played since he had surgery on a lower-body injury at the end of January, but despite missing the past 18 games, he still leads the team in goals (23) and is third in points (52). Eriksson Ek, who has missed the past 11 games with a lower-body injury, has 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 42 games this season.

As a result of their absence, the Wild have had to rely on Boldy to lead the way. And even though he hasn't scored since Eriksson Ek was injured, he has been filling up the stat sheet in different ways. In the past 11 games, Boldy leads all Wild forwards in ice time per game (21:00) and is tied for second in blocks (nine) and takeaways (five).

“You just want to help the team win,” Boldy said. “It doesn't matter if it's blocking a shot, if it's getting a puck out at an important time, shootout, whatever. I think that's the culture we have in this room. It doesn't matter who's scoring or anything like that. Everyone has an impact, everyone plays a role, and that's the biggest thing, I think.”

Wild coach John Hynes agrees.

“There's a lot of components that you know he brings as a player that helps you win games, and we need him to play a good all-around game," he said. "The challenge we're facing right now is that the puck’s not going in. ... We recognize that's the challenge, but it can't bleed into other parts of our game, the team spirit, the commitment without the puck, the way that we play as a team, the style of game we need to play. All those things still need to be there, and then eventually it should come back.”

When it does come back for Boldy, the Wild are going to be all the more dangerous for it.

“I think Matt's done a lot of good things. I think he's growing his game, there's consistency to it,” he said. “I think as far as the production, it's really with him, I think, not really overthinking. He's a great shooter. He knows he can score. We know he can score if he stays with it. He's being tested a little bit in that, but it's a good test. It's a test he's got to pass. But I liked his attitude and his mindset, and I think when you go through this situation, you want to make sure that you do the things that give you the best chance to score, right? You want to shoot the puck, you got to get to the inside, you got to get to the net front. You can't overthink or overpass. I think his mindset is good there."