Matt Boldy of Millis scores first career goal in NHL debut against hometown Boston Bruins

Ethan Winter, MetroWest Daily News

January 11, 2022 at 10:33 AM·5 min read

The last time former Millis resident Matt Boldy played a game at the TD Garden was Feb. 10, 2020 against Harvard in the annual Beanpot Tournament. Boldy was a freshman then and scored a goal in the Eagles' 7-2 win over the Crimson.

Nearly two years later and Boldy scored at the Garden again, this time in his NHL debut for the Minnesota Wild against his hometown Boston Bruins.

With 7:34 left in the second period, Boldy received a pass from Marcus Foligno on a give and go and sniped a wrist shot over the shoulder of Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman to give the Wild a 3-1 lead. Boldy's goal ended up being the game-winner for Minnesota in the 3-2 victory over Boston Thursday night and was named the first star of the game.

Wild beat Bruins 3-2: Kaprozov scores in 4th straight, Boldy gets NHL debut goal

"Foligno made a really nice pass back to me and I just caught it and shot it up into the top corner, instincts just taking over a little bit," Boldy said. "I kind of blacked out a little bit to be honest after I scored.

"It was a great play by everybody out there. They made it pretty easy for me to find the back of the net."

Minnesota Wild's Matt Boldy, center, celebrates his goal with Nico Sturm (7) as Boston Bruins' Craig Smith skates away during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

When Boldy's shot found the back of the net, his family and friends who were in attendance went predictably wild.

"Oh, I lost it," said Todd Boldy, Matt's father. "It's just an amazing moment to watch his dream come true especially where you grew up even though it's against your hometown team and we are Bruins fans, but that's something that you definitely won't forget."

A chagrined Jen Weir, Matt's mother, dropped an F-bomb in all the excitement.

"I said 'F-yeah!' which I'm not very proud of but it just came out of my mouth," said Weir who was wearing her son's Iowa Wild sweater. "I couldn't believe I said it and I couldn't believe that everyone caught it on camera."

There were about nine members of Boldy's family and about 100 friends in total at the Garden to watch his NHL debut.

Millis-raised Matt Boldy scores in his NHL debut, and it's in his home state, short drives from where he starred @DXSF_Athletics and @BC_MHockey. Can't make it up. https://t.co/3SeIxjHVuy
— Daily News Sports (@MetroWestSports) January 7, 2022

And while the Boldys were seated amongst Bruins fans, there was no animosity when Matt scored his first NHL goal.

"There were Bruins fans all around us and they were so happy for Matty," Weir said. "Everyone was so happy for him, it was just so nice."

Dream scenario: Millis' Matt Boldy makes NHL debut at TD Garden, scoring for Minnesota Wild

The most impressive thing about Boldy's debut was not that he scored, but how he handled himself on the ice.

"I was (coming in) thinking that he would be a boy out there, but he was a man," Weir said. "He fit right in there. He didn't look like he didn't belong there at all. He belonged exactly where he was."

An 11-year old Matt Boldy skates on his home outdoor rink in Millis wearing a Bruins Winter Classic sweater, in 2012.

It was still a surreal moment for Boldy when he lined up across from Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, players that he grew up rooting for win the Stanley Cup just 11 years ago.

"Obviously you see those guys, unbelievable players and have already had unbelievable careers and will continue to," the 20-year old Boldy said. "But once the game gets started, you kind of forget about those things and you are just playing which I think is the pretty cool part of it is you have those moments where, 'I can't believe I'm playing against these guys,' but once the game starts, those things kind of disappear."

Boldy had a couple of other opportunities where he could have been called up prior to Thursday night's game against the Bruins, but those call-ups fell through.

World Juniors Championship: Local hockey players from Millis, Southborough help Team USA win gold medal

"For him to say, 'I'm coming to Boston,' was just awesome," Todd said. "You can't script it any better."

After the game, Boldy met with his family.

"It was just a special family moment," Todd said. "For all of us to congratulate him and being able to be a part of watching his dream come true and being able to watch him live that."

So where does scoring his first NHL goal in his NHL debut stack up to some of his other hockey accomplishments such as winning gold for Team USA in the World Juniors and getting drafted?

Matt Boldy, of Millis, shown at Team USA training camp prior to the 2021 World Juniors Championship that was held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Boldy scored five goals for the Americans during the tournament.

"Very different accomplishments I think because one's so individual and one's more of a team accomplishment," Boldy said.

For his dad though, seeing his son play in the NHL takes the cake.

"You got to put that at the top because it's what his dream was," Todd said. "Those other things were avenues to get there, so if you got to rank them, this is the top because he is at the top. It's where he wanted to get.

"You see your son represent the United States of America and win a gold medal, that's special," Todd added. "But that was part of basically a ladder to get to the top of where he wanted to go."

Ethan Winter is a senior multimedia sports journalist at the Daily News. He can be reached at ewinter@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @EWints.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Minnesota Wild Matt Boldy scores first NHL goal against Boston Bruins

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