Boldy’s hat trick lifts Wild over Capitals; Bruins rout Sabres

Matt Boldy had a hat trick and the Minnesota Wild defeated the visiting Washington Capitals 5-3.

Ryan Reaves and Brandon Duhaime also scored for the Wild, who were playing the second half of a back-to-back after a 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves.

Minnesota (40-22-8, 88 points) moved ahead of the Colorado Avalanche for sole possession of second place in the Central Division, but they have played two more games.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice for the Capitals, who have lost three of four. Charlie Lindgren made 35 saves.

Washington (33-31-7, 73 points) trails the Pittsburgh Penguins by five points for the second wild-card entry into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Boldy gave the Wild a

1-0 lead just 50 seconds into the contest. Lindgren made the save on Marcus Johansson’s shot, but the Caps were unable to clear the puck in front of the net and Boldy knocked it in.

Boldy made it 2-0 at 4:36, working a give-andgo with Johansson on the rush and scoring on a onetimer from the right faceoff circle.

Boldy completed his second career hat trick at 13:58, scoring on a breakaway for his 22nd goal of the season, and Dylan Strome knocked in a rebound with the extra attacker on to pull the Capitals within 5-3 at 16:26.

Bruins 7, Sabres 0: Boston received another strong performance from goaltender Jeremy Swayman and extended its winning streak to three games by beating host Buffalo. Swayman, who recorded 36 saves in a 3-0 victory over Winnipeg on Thursday night, stopped 27 Buffalo shots to collect his fourth shutout of the season and the ninth of his career. Patrice Bergeron, Garnet Hathaway, Jake DeBrusk, Hampus Lindholm, David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle and Charlie McAvoy scored for Boston (53-11-5, 111 points), which completed a five-game road trip with a 3-2-0 record. Pastrnak’s goal came during a Boston power play.

Golden Knights 7, Blue Jackets 2:

Center Jack Eichel recorded his second hat trick of the season, and host Vegas defeated Columbus, tying its season high of seven goals. The hat trick was Eichel’s fourth of his career and powered the Knights to their fifth win in six games. Rookie goaltender Jiri Patera made 35 saves to win his second NHL start. The Blue Jackets, who have the worst record in the league, lost their third in a row. Right wing Phil Kessel, rookie right wing Pavel Dorofeyev, defenseman Zach Whitecloud and left wing Paul Cotter also scored for the Knights.