(ABC 6 News) -After losing two straight road games, the Minnesota Wild returned home to a tough test against the Dallas Stars Sunday night.

The Stars come into this one as the leaders of the central division. The Wild meanwhile sit near the bottom in 6th.

The Stars would waste no time showing why they lead the division as Joe Pavelski was able to open the scoring just minutes into the game.

The Wild would respond with Brandon Duhaime gathering a loose puck, and putting a backhand into the back of the net.

Minnesota would be chasing the game the whole way as Vinni Lateri would end the first period with a goal to close an exciting first period with the Wild still at a 3-2 deficit.

Everything went downhill in the following periods as Dallas would continue to put goals on the scoreboard. The lopsided final in this one was an 8-3 Dallas win.

This loss puts even more space between these two teams in the standings, leaving the Wild just two points out of last place in the division.