Nino Niederreiter scores 3 goals, Wild beat Sabres 6-3 to end 4-game skid

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Nino Niederreiter had his first career three-goal game and Niklas Backstrom stopped 25 shots on Thursday night as the Minnesota Wild broke out of a scoring slump for a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres to snap a four-game skid.

The Wild have been missing leading scorer Zach Parise since Nov. 4. He's out with a concussion and Minnesota scored two goals in three straight losses without him.

But the Wild regained their scoring touch early Thursday, notching four goals and 20 shots in the first period.

After Rasmus Ristolainen scored his first of the season just 1:03 in for Buffalo, the teams combined for three goals in a 17-second span midway through the period.