Matt Boldy had a hat trick and the Minnesota Wild defeated the visiting Washington Capitals 5-3 on Sunday in Saint Paul, Minn.
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 the Wild 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.
Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov left the game at 1:32 of the third period after a hit from Minnesota’s Matt Dumba.
Boldy gave the Wild a 1-0 lead just 50 seconds into the contest. Lindgren made the save on Marcus Johansson’s shot, but Washington was 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-and-go with Johansson on the rush and scoring on a one-timer from the right faceoff circle.
Ovechkin pulled the Capitals within 2-1 at 5:34 of the second period, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle during a power play.
Minnesota responded to take a 3-1 lead at 10:14. Ryan Hartman won a puck battle along the boards and his shot from the left circle deflected off Reaves and past Lindgren.
Duhaime, in his return after missing seven games with an upper-body injury, made it 4-1 when he scored on a backhander glove-side from the right circle off a pass from Oskar Sundqvist at 3:46 of the third period.
Ovechkin made it 4-2 at 12:33, scoring his 39th goal of the season on a wrist shot just after a faceoff at the start of a Capitals power play.
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.
–Field Level Media
