Sheahan Lifts Red Wings Over Wild, 3-2
DETROIT (AP) — Riley Sheahan had a goal and an assist to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Friday night in a game with playoff implications for both teams.
Detroit entered one point behind Boston for third place in the Atlantic Division, while Minnesota came in with a five-point lead on Colorado for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
Dylan Larkin scored on a power play in the first period and then Tomas Tatar put Detroit up 2-0 2:32 into the second period.
After Jonas Brodin scored for Minnesota with 4:18 left in the second, Sheahan got his goal 2:08 into the third.
Mikael Granlund scored for the Wild 9:43 into the third.
Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard had 20 saves, while Devan Dubnyk made 26 stops for Minnesota.
Larkin got his team-leading 23rd goal 12:52 into the first when his shot deflected off Dubnyk's glove. It secured the seventh straight game the Red Wings have scored on the power play.
In the second, Tatar took a backhand pass from behind the net by Gustav Nyquist and shot it past Dubnyk's right side.
The Wild scored when Brodin fired a slap shot past Howard after Detroit had problems clearing the puck.
Sheahan has four goals and six points in the last five games.
NOTES: Minnesota strengthened its playoff bid with a 10-4-1 mark in March and was 6-1 to close out the month. ... The Red Wings are at Toronto on Saturday night then face two of their closest competitors for a playoff spot — Philadelphia and Boston — on Wednesday and Thursday nights, respectively. ... Minnesota is at Winnipeg on Sunday. ... The Wild have five players that are alums of the U.S. National Development Team in Ann Arbor — Charlie Coyle, Zach Parise, Jordan Schroeder, Jason Zucker and Ryan Suter.
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