MINNEAPOLIS — After the Minnesota Wild announced Kirill Kaprizov would miss extended time due to injury, questions were raised as to how the offense would stay afloat without their leading goal scorer.
Enter Matt Boldy.
In the month of March, the 21-year-old winger has recorded a league-high 12 goals, averaging just shy of a goal per game while also chipping in five assists.
That outburst includes nine goals over his past five games, a stretch in which the Wild have posted a record of 4-0-1.
His latest feat was a natural hat trick in a win over the Seattle Kraken on Monday.
For Boldy, it's simply a matter of that shooting percentage rising to where it should be.
"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.
In true hockey player fashion, Boldy credited his line-mates for the goals.
"My line-mates are playing great," Boldy said. "Hopefully you guys are giving them a lot of credit. You look at some of those goals, just putting it on a tee for me. Great pass by [Marcu Johansson] on the first one. Then [Joel Eriksson Ek] winning the face-off (on the second) and [Eriksson Ek] putting it on a tee again (for the third). Those guys are playing awesome."
Heading into Tuesday's action, the Wild sat first in the Central Division, one point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche (with one more game played).
Now, Kaprizov remains the Wild's top scorer with 39 goals, 11 more than Boldy in nine fewer games played. If Boldy can keep this up after Kaprizov returns, however, the Wild could be a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs
Boldy signed a seven-year, $49-million contract back on Jan. 23, and that deal could be a steal for the Wild if this is a sign of things to come.