Matt Boldy scores twice for Minnesota Wild in 5-2 win over Calgary Flames
By Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press on December 5, 2023.
CALGARY – Matt Boldy scored twice and had an assist for the Minnesota Wild in a 5-2 win Tuesday over the host Calgary Flames. Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist with Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek also scoring for the Wild (9-10-4) who improved to 4-0-0 since Jon Hynes replaced Dean Evason as head coach Nov. 27. Minnesota has outscored its opponents 18-5 in the four games since the coaching change. Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson had 28 saves to improve to a career 4-0-1 versus Calgary. Connor Zary and Mikael Backlund scored for Calgary (10-12-3). The Flames revealed earlier Tuesday that goaltender Jacob Markstrom was week-to-week with a fractured finger on his right blocker hand. He was injured in Monday’s practice. Calgary’s Dan Vladar stopped 13 of 16 shots in just over a period of work. He was replaced by AHL call-up Dustin Wolf, who turned away 11 of 13. Minnesota led 2-0 just 45 seconds into the second period and 3-0 at 90 seconds when Wolf drew in for Vladar. Backlund countered for the hosts at 6:49 when he redirected MacKenzie Weegar’s shot from the blue line. Boldy’s second of the game at 13:58 restored the visitors’ three-goal lead heading into the third period. Zary redirected an Ilya Solovyov shot to score at 1:37 of the third period, but Eriksson Ek countered at 6:49 when Nazem Kadri slid into his teammate Wolf as the Swede shot the puck. Boldy deflected Kaprizov’s shot far corner for a power-play goal and his second of the second period. He whipped the puck over Vladar’s glove at 1:30 after Kaprizov tucked in a rebound off Marco Rossi’s shot off the post. Mats Zuccarello’s assist on Kaprizov’s goal was the Norwegian’s career 600th. The 36-year-old extended his point streak to 10 games with three goals and 11 assists in that span. Wolf repelled four shots during a Minnesota power play shortly after coming into the game. He also stoned Brandon Duhaime on a short-handed breakaway in the second period. A sluggish start and six giveaways in the first 20 minutes had Calgary leaning heavily on Vladar. Minnesota outshot the hosts 13-5 in the first period and led 1-0 by 1:26 after scoring on their first shot of the game After deking Solovyov, Foligno’s shot that came out of the net quickly wasn’t signalled a goal until half a minute later when both teams were in Minnesota’s end. UP NEXT The Flames host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. The Wild stay on the road for a back-to-back Thursday game against the Vancouver Canucks and Friday tilt against the Edmonton Oilers. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2023. 19-18
