Boldy scores in NHL debut, Wild edge Bruins

BOSTON -- Matt Boldy scored in his NHL debut for the Minnesota Wild, who defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 at TD Garden on Thursday.

Kaapo Kahkonen made a season-high 36 saves, and Jonas Brodin had two assists for Minnesota (20-10-2), which was 0-4-1 in its past five games.
"Are we proud of all the guys? 100 percent," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "From our goalie out, we played a hard game, we played a heavy game, and we played an intelligent game. We talked about simplifying when things aren't going well. We did the right things tonight to put ourselves in a position to get the win at the end of the night."
Kirill Kaprizov, who scored a goal, left the game at 10:12 of the second period with an
upper-body injury
after being hit along the left boards by Bruins forward Trent Frederic.
Frederic was assessed a minor penalty for boarding on the play.
Evason said on Friday Kaprizov will not play Saturday against the Washington Capitals and is unsure of when he will return. After Saturday, the Wiild are not scheduled to play again until Jan. 14 against the Anaheim Ducks.
"Really frustrated with how Kirill got hurt," Evason said. "I mean, it's a [predatory] hit, one that the league … I mean, we don't want that, right? The puck is sitting right there. You know what he's doing. He's going to hurt our best player. There's no question that there is no intention. … That is not a hockey play. The puck's sitting right there. All he has to do is take the puck and go. And in a vulnerable position, you hit a player from behind. We see it all the time, and it gets taken care of. I hope it gets taken care of here.
"[Kaprizov] is as tough and gritty as they get, and he doesn't come back in that hockey game. So it doesn't look good."

Taylor Hall and Brad Marchand scored, and Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves for Boston (17-11-2), which had won three in a row.
"I don't think either team had a ton [of scoring chances] at 5-on-5. It was just one of those games where there was zero flow," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "At the end of the day, you've got to find a way at 5-on-5 against good teams. Give [Kahkonen] credit. In the third, I thought he made some really good point-blank saves and earned his win."
Hall gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 6:35 of the first when his one-timer from the right circle deflected in off Brodin during a 4-on-3 power play.
Kaprizov tied it 1-1 at 15:25 on a 5-on-3 power play, beating Swayman with a one-timer off a diagonal seam pass from Mats Zuccarello.
Nico Sturm gave the Wild a 2-1 lead on the ensuing 5-on-4 power play at 16:48, deflecting Brodin's slap shot. Connor Dewar, who won the face-off that started the play, had the secondary assist for his first NHL point (fifth game).
Boldy, who was selected with the No. 12 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, extended the lead to 3-1 at 12:26 of the second period. The Bruins were caught on a bad line change following a penalty kill, and Boldy scored from near the left hash marks off a give-and-go with Marcus Foligno.
"It was a surreal moment for sure, having it here with all my friends and family," said Boldy, a Massachusetts native. "[Foligno] made an unbelievable pass back to me. … I just had to shoot it into the back of the net. ... I think I blacked out after I scored. I just remember the guys coming in, kind of screaming and smiling."

Marchand cut it to 3-2 at 15:35 of the second, shooting into an open net on the power play after receiving a no-look backhand pass from Patrice Bergeron.
NOTES:Wild forward Marco Rossi, who was selected with the No. 9 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, had two shots in 16:19 of ice time in his NHL debut. … Boldy is the fourth Wild player to score a goal in his NHL debut at age 20 or younger, joining Marian Gaborik (2000-01), Mikael Granlund (2012-13), and Joel Eriksson Ek (2016-17). ... Kaprizov has scored 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists) in 32 games, the fewest needed to reach the mark in Wild history. The previous best was by Gaborik, who did it in 36 games in 2006-07. … Boston lost to Minnesota for the first time since Nov. 6, 2017.