Matt Boldy nets hat trick in frenetic first as Wild outlast Predators

Matt Boldy scored a hat trick in the first period and set up Jared Spurgeon's game-winning goal as the Minnesota Wild pulled off a crazy 6-5 overtime victory against the host Nashville Predators on Wednesday night.

The clock was winding down when Boldy set up Spurgeon with a cross-ice pass to beat Juuse Saros with 46 seconds remaining in OT for the 6-5 final.

Quinn Hughes had two assists, and Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves for the Wild, who have won five in a row heading into the Olympic break.

Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg each had a goal and an assist, and Steven Stamkos and Ryan O'Reilly each had three-point nights for the Predators, who defeated the St. Louis Blues 6-5 their last time out. Saros made 38 saves.

Boldy gave Minnesota an early 1-0 lead at 1:49 of the first period. The Wild won the faceoff in their defensive zone, and Zach Bogosian passed the puck up to Boldy, who skated above the Nashville defense to score on a wrist shot.

Boldy added to his tally with a backhand tip shot on the power play, giving the Wild a 2-0 advantage at 3:39.

Forsberg got Nashville on the board 2-1 with a wrist shot past Gustavsson on the power play.

On a fluke play in front of Nashville's net, Nick Blankenburg lost possession of the puck, and Boldy quickly backhanded it past Saros to give the Wild a 3-1 lead at 12:58.

Stamkos buried his own power-play goal to make the score 3-2 at 16:45, and Eric Haula tied the game 3-3 on a wrist shot at 18:21.

Luke Evangalista gave the Predators their first lead of the game 41 seconds into the second period. Stamkos set him up for a wrist shot to make the score 4-3.

Yakov Trenin tied the game back up 4-4 at 16:06 when he skated in front of Roman Josi for a back-handed tap-in up close.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored on a wrist shot to make it 5-4 Wild at 15:14 of the third period, but Josi scored on the following faceoff to tie it 5-5 34 seconds later, setting the table for overtime.

--Field Level Media