60 Not Enough for Red Wings, Bowman

The crowd at Joe Louis Arena chanted “six-oh, six-oh,” but the players weren’t all that excited and the coach was even less so.

He’s been there, done that.

“It was just another game for us,” said Detroit’s Dino Ciccarelli, whose second-period goal gave him 1,100 points and helped the Red Wings beat Winnipeg, 4-2, Wednesday night. “Sixty doesn’t mean anything if we’re not successful in the playoffs. The media is making a bigger deal out of this than the players are.”

And a much bigger deal than Coach Scotty Bowman, who has seen a team win 60 games. Coached one. Now coached the only two.

“When we did it in Montreal, I never really thought anybody would do it again,” Bowman said. “But, when you think about it, we won 59 games the year before in Montreal. So, anything can happen.”

The Red Wings have two games to play and, at 60-13-7, can’t surpass the point total of the great Canadien team. Montreal finished 60-8-12 that season, for 132 points.

More important, Detroit has endured a 41-year drought without the Stanley Cup, the longest active streak in the NHL.

“Players want to be remembered for playing on a championship team, not winning 60 games,” Ciccarelli said. “It’s a whole new season come next week.”

The matchup might also have been a playoff preview. The Jets are competing for one of five playoff spots up for grabs in the Western Conference. Winnipeg could finish as high as fourth, or as low as ninth and miss the playoffs. If the Jets finish eighth, they will be the Red Wings’ first-round opponent.

Philadelphia 5, New Jersey 1--John LeClair scored twice for the Flyers, who won at East Rutherford, N.J., to close within one point of Pittsburgh for the top spot in the East.

The Devils’ loss and a victory by Tampa Bay dropped them into ninth place, one below playoff level.

Buffalo 5, Ottawa 2--Jason Dawe scored two goals and set up another for the Sabres, who snapped a six-game home losing streak.

New York Islanders 6, Pittsburgh 2--Zigmund Palffy and Todd Bertuzzi each scored two goals as the lowly Islanders shocked the Penguins at Pittsburgh.

Washington 4, New York Rangers 1--Jim Carey was within 1:49 of his 10th shutout of the season before Alexei Kovalev scored for the Rangers in New York.

Tampa Bay 2, Florida 1--Brian Bradley had a goal and an assist to move the Lightning into the Eastern Conference’s eighth playoff spot with a victory at Miami.

Dallas 4, Edmonton 2--Richard Matvichuk scored twice and Derian Hatcher and Mike Kennedy once for the Stars at Edmonton.