Dominating Win for Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Alex Stalock won his first NHL start in over a year, Nino Niederreiter had two goals and the Minnesota Wild beat the Ottawa Senators 5-1 on Thursday night to end a four-game skid.

Stalock stopped 18 shots in his first start for the Wild, who remained second in the Western Conference. Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Dumba and Jason Pominville also scored for Minnesota.

Searching for a spark with Devan Dubnyk and backup Darcy Kuemper struggling, Minnesota recalled Stalock on Wednesday for his first start since last February with San Jose. The St. Paul native had spent six months in the minors.

Stalock allowed a goal on Ottawa's seventh shot, but Neiderreiter tied it less than a minute later. Stalock stopped everything after that, and Niederreiter added another goal in the second to put the Wild ahead for good.

Ottawa played without captain and leading scorer Erik Karlsson, who was injured blocking a shot against Philadelphia on Tuesday and ended his streak of 324 consecutive games played.