Red Wings Keep Rangers in a Slump

The Detroit Red Wings are rolling toward the playoffs with the league’s best record. On Sunday, they left the struggling New York Rangers in their wake.

Darren McCarty’s goal with 2:08 to play was the game-winner and the Red Wings beat the slumping Rangers, 5-3, at Madison Square Garden.

McCarty picked up the rebound of Nicklas Lidstrom’s blue-line slap shot and whipped it past Mike Richter, off both posts and into the net for his fourth goal this season and a 4-3 Detroit lead.

The victory, their 10th in 12 games, gave the Red Wings a league-high 104 points and a 16-point lead in the race for the best overall record, which ensures home ice throughout the playoffs.

But Lidstrom said the Red Wings, despite being the only team to have clinched a playoff berth, are taking nothing for granted.

“We’re pretty much playing every game against teams that are battling for playoff berths,” he said. “It makes us come out and play a strong game as well. We have to be ready to play these teams.”

The Rangers lost their third in a row and remained in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind eighth-place Montreal.

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Colorado 5, Nashville 4--Martin Skoula scored two power-play goals at Nashville and the Avalanche improved to 9-2-1 in its last 12 games.

The Predators lost their fourth in a row and their fifth consecutive at home.

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Phoenix 2, Minnesota 2--Ladislav Nagy scored twice for Phoenix and Marian Gaborik responded with two goals for the Wild at St. Paul, Minn.

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Ottawa 2, Florida 0--Zdeno Chara and Daniel Alfredsson scored power-play goals and Patrick Lalime made 28 saves for the Senators at Ottawa, Canada.

Ottawa has won four of five to tie Toronto for second in the Northeast Division with 83 points.

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Buffalo 2, Tampa Bay 2--Sheldon Keefe scored the tying goal for the Lightning with 2:10 left in the second period at Tampa, Fla.

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Vancouver 3, New Jersey 2--Todd Bertuzzi’s behind-the-back pass set up Mattias Ohlund’s power-play goal with 1:56 left in overtime at East Rutherford, N.J.

The Canucks won their fourth in a row on the road and moved into a tie with Dallas for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.