Fans raised their arms in celebration and a hat even hit the ice.
That's how close the Wild's Matt Boldy came to scoring a hat trick Thursday, his third-period attempt on the power play from the side of the net just staying out.
But with two previous tallies and an assist on Mats Zuccarello's overtime goal that finalized the Wild's 3-2 win over the Flyers, Boldy's performance was still a resounding success to continue his surge since shedding a lengthy goal drought earlier this month.
"How I play, sometimes it goes like that where things just find the back of the net and sometimes they don't," Boldy said. "I feel like I'm playing well right now and getting pucks to the net and creating opportunities."
Boldy's pair of goals were his third and fourth in four games, this after he went a career-long 11 games without scoring any.
During those four games, the second-year winger registered at least three shots and had four or more in nine of his past 11 contests. Overall, Boldy's 16 goals through 47 games are one more than he had in 47 games last season with the Wild after a midseason call-up from the minors to make his NHL debut.
"It's awesome that he wants to pass the puck and he wants to share the puck because he's a great teammate," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "But he'll strongly recognize and it's getting closer that for him to help his team he needs to shoot the puck into the net because he has the ability to do that. Not everybody does; a lot of guys don't have his gifts, his shot, his vision, his positioning. He has that.
"He needs to shoot it in the net and understand that he's not being selfish. He's being unselfish by helping his team win."
Hartman returns
Ryan Hartman suited up vs. the Sabres after being a healthy scratch Thursday, and he returned with a new address in the lineup.
Hartman took Marcus Foligno's usual spot alongside Jordan Greenway and Joel Eriksson Ek, while Foligno resumed Hartman's previous post next to Boldy and Frederick Gaudreau.
"Not necessarily trying to get anyone going," Evason said. "Trying to balance the lines out and try something a little bit different. We've got Hartzy coming back, so we didn't want to stay with what we had prior to Hartzy in there. We'll have a look at this."
Familiar face
Tyson Jost has played a handful of games this season at Xcel Energy Center, but Saturday he wore a different jersey than all of his other appearances.
Jost was back in St. Paul with Buffalo after the Sabres claimed him off waivers from the Wild on Nov. 19.
"I'm actually really happy with how things worked out," Jost said.
The Wild acquired the forward from Colorado ahead of last season's trade deadline, and Jost finished the regular season with two goals and four assists in 21 games. But after a strong preseason and even a stint at No. 1 center during the Wild's slow start, Jost eventually became a healthy scratch. He had three assists in 12 games when the Wild placed him on waivers.
"It's part of the business," Jost said.
With the Sabres, the former North Dakota standout is centering Eden Prairie's Casey Mittelstadt and Victor Olofsson, recording four goals and eight assists in his first 30 games.
"I'm really happy with being in Buffalo," Jost said.
