ST. PAUL, Minn. — This game sure did start well for the Red Wings, but gradually, not so much.
Then it came back a little bit, the Wings made it interesting, but ultimately, a tough loss.
Minnesota rookie Matt Boldy, an alumni of the Plymouth Township-based United States National Team Development Program, earned his first career hat trick leading the Wild to a 7-4 victory.
Dylan Larkin and Gustav Lidstrom scored the Wings' goals in the first 4:01 of the game, giving the Wings a quick 2-0 lead, and Lucas Raymond (power play, his 13th goal) ended a string of five consecutive Wild goals, with a third-period tally. Moritz Seider had two assists.
Sam Gagner cut the Wild lead to 5-4 at 18:15 of the third period, Gagner's fifth goal, after a Wings' power play expired.
But Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov scored an empty-net goal, his second goal Monday, to reclaim the two-goal lead, and Ryan Hartman closed the scoring with 14 seconds left.
Behind the impressive Boldy, and a tie-breaking goal from Kaprizov, the Wild rallied for their 30th victory of the season (30-11-3).
Joel Eriksson Ek's power-play goal (14th goal) in the final period, the Wild's third power-play goal, in the third period, making it 5-2.
The Wings fell back to .500 (22-22-6) while beginning a stretch of seven games against seven of the top teams in the NHL's overall standings.
The Wings travel to New York Thursday to face the Rangers (30-13-4).
Larkin opened the scoring with his 25th goal.
Wild defenseman Jordie Benn tripped and fell, allowing Larkin to drive through the slot unobstructed. Larkin faked goalie Kaapo Kahkonen to the ice and neatly deposited the puck, giving the Wings a 1-0 lead at 1:27.
Lindstrom extended the lead to 2-0 with his first career NHL goal in game No. 69.
Lindstrom snapped a shot from the point that Kahkonen appeared mystified about, not seeing the puck through several bodies in front of him, at 4:01.
But the Wild bounced back with two of Boldy's goal in the first period.
On the first one, Boldy made a sharp move on defenseman Marc Staal, cutting to the slot, and snapping a shot past goalie Alex Nedeljkovic at 5:29.
Boldy tied it 2-2 on the power play at 8:04, redirecting a Mats Zuccarello shot.
Kaprizov broke the tie with his 21st goal at 4:54 of the second period, one-timing a pass from Zuccarello high over Nedeljkovic.
Boldy completed his hat trick with another power-play goal at 18:13 of the second period. Boldy's shot from the post eluded a sprawling Nedeljkovic for Boldy's seventh goal overall, and giving the Wild a 4-2 lead.
