Boldy's hat trick helps Wild defeat Ovechkin, Capitals

ST. PAUL, Minn. --Matt Boldy scored his second NHL hat trick for the Minnesota Wild in a 5-3 win against the Washington Capitals at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.

Ryan Reaves and Brandon Duhaime also scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves to win his seventh straight start for the Wild (40-22-8).
Minnesota is two points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, who have two games in hand, for the second in the Central Division and one point behind the Dallas Stars.
"The team has stepped up, right? Not just a few guys. Everybody," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "Everybody has. I don't think they sat in there and said, 'Guys we have to score now.' They've always tried to score, but with (forward Kirill Kaprizov) absence, they all know that there's a little extra push that's needed to be had because literally he's playing half the game, so there's opportunities for people and people have been able to step up."
Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist, Dylan Strome had a goal and an assist, and Charlie Lindgren made 35 saves for the Capitals (33-31-7), who have lost three of four.
Washington remained five points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have two games in hand, for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"It's frustrating we just haven't started good," Strome said. "I think like our last 40 minutes of the last five or six games have been pretty good. We've been hanging in there with everyone we played against.
"Obviously, our starts aren't good. I'm not sure of the exact reason. We got to have a better start next game. Time's quickly running out. You take away the first five minutes of the last five games, I feel like we've got more goals than the other team. Keeping it 0-0 to the first TV timeout is maybe what we have to do. Easier said than done. We just have to keep working hard and find a way to get out the first period tied or better."
Boldy scored on a rebound 50 seconds into the game to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. He then extended it to 2-0 at 4:36 with a one-timer off a pass from Marcus Johansson.

Ovechkin cut it to 2-1 at 5:34 of the second period with a one-timer from the top of the left circle on a power play.
Reaves responded for Minnesota to make it 3-1 at 10:14, tipping in a wrist shot from Ryan Hartman.
Duhaime, who missed the previous seven games with an upper-body injury, pushed it to 4-1 at 3:46 of the third period with a backhand from the right circle.
"I feel like I didn't really miss a beat," Duhaime said. "Felt pretty good out there."
Ovechkin scored his second power-play goal to make it 4-2 at 12:33. He is one goal from passing Wayne Gretzky for the most 40-goal seasons in NHL history (13).
"We don't give up, try to battle back," Ovechkin said. "We try our best to win the hockey game. We don't stop playing. We battle."

Boldy completed the hat trick on a breakaway to make it 5-2 at 13:58. He has eight points (four goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak.
"Linemates are playing awesome," Boldy said. "First one, just great play by 'Jojo,' who lays right there. Then the 3-on-2 one everyone gets a touch, just snapping it around. Then the third one I get a breakaway, so it's a lot of credit to those guys."
Strome scored with Lindgren pulled for the extra skater at 16:26 for the 5-3 final.
"Wasn't good," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "Wasn't good."
NOTES:Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov left early in the third following a hit from Wild defenseman Matt Dumba. There was no update. … Boldy is the second player in Wild history to score at least 20 goals in a season before the age of 22, joining Marian Gaborik (30 in 2001-02 and 2002-03). He's also the third player in team history to get at least 50 points in a season before the age of 22, joining Gaborik (67 in 2001-02; 65 in 2002-03) and Pierre-Marc Bouchard (59 in 2005-06). … Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin was plus-2 in 23:59 of ice time in his return after missing 12 games with a lower-body injury. … Minnesota defenseman Jake Middleton was plus-2 in 17:43 after missing two games with an illness.