Senators give up ground in Atlantic Division

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Ottawa Senators gave up ground in the Atlantic Division by losing to the Minnesota Wild 5-1 at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.
Ottawa's lead for second place in the division is down to two points over the Toronto Maple Leafs and three points over the Boston Bruins with each of those teams winning.

The Senators (41-26-9) are six points behind the Montreal Canadiens for first place with one game in hand; Montreal also won. Ottawa has two wins in its past nine games (2-4-3).
"We're not getting help anywhere," Senators forward Bobby Ryan said. "All the points are accumulating. Luckily, we've built ourselves a bit of a cushion, but you want to hit your stride … going into the playoffs.
"On the bright side, we've got six games to turn that around and get back to the Sens brand of hockey that's made us successful."
WATCH: All Senators vs. Wild highlights
Alex Stalock made 18 saves in his first NHL game since Feb. 11, 2016, and Minnesota (45-24-9) ended a four-game losing streak. The Wild, 2-7-2 in their past 11 games, moved within seven points of the Chicago Blackhawks for first place in the Central Division and Western Conference.
"Well, I hope it's not the culmination. I hope we keep building; it's one game," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It was good to get a win at home. We hadn't won here in four games or five games and the fans are so great cheering us on. It was nice to reward them with a win."
Mike Hoffman gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 16:20 of the first period. Nino Niederreiter scored 47 seconds later for a 1-1 game.

Niederreiter scored his second at 7:08 of the second period for a 2-1 lead, and Joel Eriksson Ek made it 3-1 at 17:32 with his third NHL goal.
"I think our first period was good," Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said. "I think the minute they got that second goal there, we didn't look good after. … I know we [have] injuries, but the guys that were in the lineup are able to play better than that."
Matt Dumba scored a power-play goal at 4:46 of the third period to increase the Wild lead to 4-1, and Jason Pominville made it 5-1 with a goal at 11:53.
Ottawa was without defenseman Erik Karlsson, who had played 324 consecutive games. The Senators captain is day to day with an upper-body injury sustained in a 3-2 shootout loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. He leads the Senators with 15 goals and 68 points.
"He's our best player, hands down, there's no questions asked about that," Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson said. "But at the same time it's an opportunity for other guys to play minutes and make plays."
Montreal defeated the Florida Panthers 6-2, Toronto defeated the Nashville Predators 3-1, and Boston shut out the Dallas Stars 2-0.

Goal of the game

Niederreiter scored his second on his backhand for his first multigoal game since Feb. 7.
"When you don't score as a potentially top goal-scorer, you get frustrated and it creeps in your game and it's tough on you mentally," said Niederreiter, who ended a 16-game drought. "When the first one gets in, you start feeling loose again, and then it's just a matter of time to get the next one."

Save of the game

Stalock stopped a shot from Senators defenseman Cody Ceci to keep the game 0-0 at 15:45 of the first period.

Unsung performance of the game

Wild forward Martin Hanzal picked off an errant Senators pass to start the play that led to Pominville's goal.

Highlight of the game

Eriksson Ek scored off the post for his first goal in his first game since returning from playing in Sweden. He has six points (three goals, three assists) in 10 NHL games.

They said it

"I think it's another step in the right direction; I mean, obviously we have to continue doing it. We can't just get a win and then think it's going to come no matter what. So we have to make sure we keep going and keep working on our little things." -- Wild forward Nino Niederreiter
"It's a difficult loss. They really took it to us. The score reflects really the whole game, and if you look at how we got beat, they had more than us. They did the little things, they were a little harder, and we've got to really regroup quick because we've got a really important one coming up on Saturday (against the Winnipeg Jets)." -- Senators defenseman Dion Phaneuf

Need to know

Senators forward Zack Smith (upper body) did not play after leaving the game with 6:50 remaining in the first period. Boucher said he is day to day. … Hoffman has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 13 games. … Wild forward Eric Staal has 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in his past 12 games and six points (three goals, three assists) during a six-game point streak. … Pominville played his 900th NHL game. ... Karlsson had not missed a game since Feb. 16, 2013, the first game after injuring his Achilles tendon Feb. 13. His streak began April 25, 2013, when he returned from that injury.

What's next

Wild: At the Nashville Predators on Saturday (2 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Senators: At the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN, NHL.TV)