ST. PAUL, Minn. — Eric Staal scored his second goal of the game with 5:58 left and the Minnesota Wild overcame a sloppy third period to beat the Ottawa Senators 6-4 on Wednesday night.
Matt Dumba also scored twice as the Wild ended a two-game slide and won for the 12th time in 17 games. Mikael Granlund had three assists.
Chris Tierney, Thomas Chabot, Christian Jaros and Colin White scored for the Senators, who began a four-game trip.
Chabot made it 4-2 with a short-handed goal 24 seconds into the third period. Jaros and White scored 83 seconds apart midway through the period to tie it and send Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk to the bench.
On the winner, Jason Zucker controlled the puck behind the Ottawa net before blindly sending a backhand pass in front. Charging down the slot, Staal put the puck behind Craig Anderson.
Eric Staal (Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports)
Eric Fehr added an empty-net goal, and Alex Stalock made one save down the stretch for Minnesota.
The Wild were 2 for 4 on the power play against the league’s worst short-handed team. Ottawa is at 67.1 per cent on the penalty kill.
Staal scored Minnesota’s second power-play goal on a one-timer from the slot six minutes into the second period with a follow-through that dropped him to one knee for a 3-0 lead.
Dumba scored on the man advantage with 9.9 seconds left in the first period.
Minnesota has scored at least one power-play goal in five straight games (seven goals) and 10 of its past 13, going 14 for 47 in that span.
Tierney scored on a tap-in midway through the second period to get the Senators within 3-1, but Dumba countered with a long shot late in the second.
Dumba has five goals and two assists during a career high-tying five-game point streak. His 10 goals are a league high for defenceman, and his four power-play goals are also best by a blueliner. Dumba had a career-high 14 goals last season.
The Wild have a league-high 20 goals from their defencemen. Ottawa is second with 18.
Jordan Greenway got the first Minnesota goal.
NOTES: Dubnyk had 22 saves and Anderson had 28. … Wild LW Marcus Foligno played. He left Sunday’s game after taking a shot off the outside of his right leg that caused him to briefly lose feeling in the leg. … Ottawa LW Mikkel Boedker recorded his 300th career point with an assist on Tierney’s goal.
UP NEXT:
Senators: At Dallas on Friday night.
Wild: Host Winnipeg on Friday.
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Mike Cook, The Associated Press
