Detroit beats Nashville

Pavel Datsyuk scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and had an assist, and Detroit defeated Nashville, 2-1, Thursday night at Nashville, Tenn., and moved back into a tie with the Predators atop the NHL.

The Red Wings, Predators and idle Buffalo all have 105 points, but Detroit has a game in hand on Nashville with four of its final five games left against Central Division cellar dwellers Columbus and Chicago.

Nashville blew a chance to pad its lead and has four games left to win a franchise-best 50th game. Three of those are at home. Detroit won the season series against Nashville, 6-2.

In other games:

Jarome Iginla’s scored three goals and Calgary defeated Minnesota, 4-2, at St. Paul, Minn.... Doug Weight had a goal and an assist, Barret Jackman added three assists and St. Louis defeated Edmonton, 5-2, to end a three-game losing streak at St. Louis.... Milan Hejduk had a goal and an assist to help Colorado defeat Phoenix, 4-3, at Glendale, Ariz.

Sidney Crosby had three assists to bring his NHL-leading point total to 116, helping Pittsburgh to a 4-2 victory at Boston and moving the Penguins into first place in the Atlantic Division.... Slava Kozlov scored two goals, including the game-winner with 46.4 seconds remaining in overtime, to help Atlanta end a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Toronto at Atlanta.