SUNRISE, FLA. – Matt Boldy's breakaway after exiting the Wild penalty box was thwarted by Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen's pad, but the do-over Boldy received two periods later didn't go to waste.
After getting by a pair of Hurricanes defenders, he backhanded the puck behind Andersen to end a lengthy goal drought and make the Wild's 5-2 loss on Thursday night look a little less lopsided.
"Obviously, you wish you scored the first one," Boldy said. "Changes the game a little bit more."
The recent splashy seven-year, $49 million contract extension Boldy secured from the Wild emphasized the forward's past and future.
A first-round pick with collegiate and international accolades, Boldy is coming off an impressive NHL debut that promoted his goal-scoring and playmaking abilities, skills that make his potential worth embracing.
"We feel like Matt is going to be one of the cornerstones of our organization," General Manager Bill Guerin said after the Wild announced the deal Monday.
But in the present is a 21-year-old adjusting to professional hockey, a transition that's very much a reality during Boldy's sophomore season with the Wild.
"I don't ever use that as an excuse to how I play or the plays that I make or mistakes that I make or stuff like that," Boldy said. "But, yeah, there's still a lot to learn. It's only been just about a year [in the NHL].
"I'll never use that as an excuse or to get out of anything, but yeah there's definitely steps to be made in the forward direction."
Boldy's third-period tally vs. Carolina was his first goal since Dec. 21, a finish that put an end to an 11-game dry spell that ranks as his longest since he's been an NHLer. Before then, the most games Boldy had gone between goals was eight.
"It had been awhile," he said. "I wasn't super happy about that, so it was nice to get one."
Despite the lull, Boldy is fourth on the team in goals with 13; add in 17 assists, and his 30 points trail only Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek.
And yet Boldy could still be leaving offense on the table.
"We want him to shoot the puck more," Guerin said. "I think he tries to get too cute at times, but that's what playmakers do. You gotta reel them back in. This is a fancy league for very few players, very few, like three. Everybody else you gotta simplify and be a little more direct."
That's exactly how Boldy capitalized against the Hurricanes: He charged into the offensive zone, the 6-foot-2, 201-pound winger shrugging off pressure from elite defenseman Jaccob Slavin while fellow blue-liner Brent Burns also trailed behind.
"I know that he knows that's what he has to do to have success is to be a straight-line player, get to the net as he did [Thursday] night," coach Dean Evason said. "Hopefully that's a reinforcement that he's doing the right things and has to continue to do that."
As for winding up on more pucks, Boldy is well aware of the feedback.
"I definitely know in my head," he said. "Sometimes things happen quick, and you make a play off instinct and sometimes it's not right. Sometimes you should shoot it. I know that."
While he wants to score every game, Boldy is also focusing on being an all-around factor who can be trusted up and down the ice.
Consistency is also a priority, and that's been the name of his game for years now — when the Wild drafted him 12th overall in 2019 after a stint with USA Hockey's national team development program, while he won gold at the 2021 world junior championship and during two seasons at Boston College before he turned pro in 2021.
Even last year as a rookie, Boldy was extremely effective.
He scored in his NHL debut Jan. 6 in front of family and friends at Boston, set a Wild rookie record with a 10-game point streak and led all NHL first-year players with 0.83 points per game after posting 15 goals and 24 assists for 39 points in 47 games.
Producing like that is his job, a fact underscored by his impending raise, but this is also a process and one he can enjoy.
"You have the responsibility of playing and playing well," Boldy said. "But the more fun you have with it, the better it is, I think. I don't think I'll lose that having fun mentality."
