Nino Niederreiter and Mikko Koivu each scored twice leading the Minnesota Wild to a 4-1 win over the L.A. Kings.
Chris Stewart added two assists while Devan Dubnyk made 31 saves.
With the win, Minnesota moves into the third spot in the Central Division leapfrogging the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago has two games in hand on Minnesota.
#mnwild, 16 back of Chicago on Jan. 27, now 1 up on Chicago for 3rd in the Central (Hawks have 2 games in hand). Wild 8 up on Calgary
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 29, 2015
The Wild lead the league with a 26-6-2 record since Jan. 15 and have an NHL-best 49 points (24-5-1) in 30 games since the All-Star Break.
The loss snaps the Kings’ three-game winning streak. The Kings failed to make up ground on the idle Calgary Flames. Calgary trails L.A. by just one point for the third seed in the Pacific Division.
Dwight King had the lone goal for L.A. while Jonathan Quick was pulled after allowing two goals on nine first period shots. Martin Jones made nine saves in relief.
Dubnyk, who made his 34th consecutive start, improved to 26-6-1 since joining the Wild. The 28-year-old has allowed two goals or fewer in 26 of 34 games.