ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Josh Norris broke a tie on a power play with 7:18 left, Leevi Merilainen made 30 saves in his fifth NHL game and the Ottawa Senators beat the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Sunday night.

Ottawa has won seven of its past nine games, while the Wild have lost five of their past seven. The Senators won in Minnesota for the first time since 2016.

With starter Linus Ullmark and backup Anton Forsberg out with injuries, the Senators have been relying on Merilainen and Mads Sogaard since before the NHL holiday break.

Frederick Gaudreau opened the scoring for Minnesota late in the first period. Ridly Greig tied it early in the second.

Claude Giroux added an empty-netter.

Josh Norris scores late power-play goal in the Senators' 3-1 victory over the Wild | iNFOnews.ca — The Ottawa Senators celebrate their goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Takeaways

Senators: A team that finds itself surprisingly in a playoff position after missing the postseason the past six seasons topped a Western Conference contender in Minnesota. Norris has been a big part of the Senators’ surge and now ranks second on the team with 14 goals.

Wild: A lower-body injury kept Kirill Kaprizov out of his second straight game, but Joel Eriksson Ek returned after missing 11 games with a lower-body injury. The Wild are 17-5-4 with Eriksson Ek in the lineup and 5-6-0 without him.

Key moment

The Wild killed one penalty midway through the third, but Jared Spurgeon went to the box seconds later on a holding call. Norris scored on the power play.