TEMPE, Ariz. — It was almost as if winger Matt Boldy simply decided the Wild weren’t going to lose.

With the score tied on Monday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Boldy took over the game down the stretch to lift the Wild to a much-needed 5-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. He made a power move near the crease to assist on a goal from center Marco Rossi, then scored a goal of his own that ended up being the game winner. All in the span of about a minute.

There’s no question Boldy was the best player on the ice against the defending Stanley Cup champions. He finished the night with a goal and a pair of assists while playing alongside center Joel Eriksson Ek and opposite winger Kirill Kaprizov on a newly concocted line.

“Things are going well,” Boldy said. “We’ve got to keep it going.”

No kidding. If there’s a flaw for the 22-year-old Boldy at this point in his career, it’s that he can dominate like he did against the Golden Knights, then ghost his teammates like he did last week against the Chicago Blackhawks. The next step for Boldy is finding more consistency in his game.

“That’s the challenge of being a young player that has really good talent,” Wild head coach John Hynes said. “Just understanding what it takes to win. That’s something that we’re working on with him, and he recognizes that. Hopefully we can continue to help push him to that and he can continue to take ownership.”

The biggest issue for Boldy is balancing being a goal-scorer with being a playmaker. He wants so badly to be both that he occasionally overthinks himself into oblivion. He’s unable to get to his game when he’s in his own head and he tends to float as a result.

“I’m trying to be a hockey player and make the plays that are there,” Boldy said. “Sometimes it’s easier said than done.”

Maybe his performance for the Wild against the Golden Knights will serve as a proper reminder of how good he can be. It wasn’t a fluke that he finished last season with 31 goals and 32 assists. Though he isn’t yet on pace to match those numbers this season — Boldy has 18 goals and 20 assists across 45 games — he could get there if he plays up to his potential.

“He’s a guy that competes his (expletive) off every night,” rookie defenseman Brock Faber said. “It seems like when he’s going, other guys feed off of that.”

That was on full display Monday night in Las Vegas. Boldy wasn’t handcuffed trying to process every single thing he was doing. He was simply playing with instincts and reacting accordingly. Whether it was feathering a touch pass to Eriksson Ek for a slam-dunk goal early in the game or forcing the issue to open the door for Rossi late in the game, Boldy was consistently driving play each time he hopped over the boards.

“That’s how he should play,” goaltender Filip Gustavsson said. “He needs to be fast and aggressive and put them on their heels.”

The lasting image, however, was Boldy hustling after a loose puck in the offensive zone to create a turnover before banking a long-range shot off of Vegas goaltender Adin Hill and into the back of the net.

“I was thinking, ‘Just throw it at the net,’ ” Boldy said. “Just got lucky.”

As much as that might be true, Boldy deserves credit for creating his own luck in that scenario.

Now the Wild need more of that out of him moving forward.

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