COLUMBUS, Ohio - Robert Lang scored his first in a Detroit uniform, jamming in a loose puck in the third period to lead the Red Wings to a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.
The fourth straight win gave Detroit 107 points, clinching the top seed in the West playoffs. Detroit has a three-point lead over Tampa Bay in the race for the league's best record.
"We're really thrilled to win the West," Detroit coach Dave Lewis said. "It's one of the goals we talked about right around the All-Star break. To go through some of the trials and tribulations we've gone through, I think it's a real reward for our guys."
Red Wings fans ran down to the glass and tossed two octopi on the ice, a Red Wings tradition, in celebration during the final minute.
Lang played his first game after missing 11 with a rib injury. His previous goal was scored Feb. 25, two days before he was traded from Washington to Detroit.
SENATORS 5, PANTHERS 4: Martin Havlat scored with 6:26 left in the third to lead visiting Ottawa.
Wade Redden, Antoine Vermette, Chris Phillips and Marian Hossa also scored for the Senators, who improved to 15-1-2-1 against the Southeast.
The victory moved the Senators past Toronto and Philadelphia into third in the East standings. Ottawa has 100 points, Toronto 99 and Philadelphia 98. Ottawa and Toronto have two games left, while the Flyers have three.
The Senators also moved to within one point of Boston in the Northeast, but the Bruins have a game in hand.
Florida goalie Roberto Luongo stopped 30 of 35 shots, setting the league record for most shots faced in a season. Luongo's 2,443 shots broke the mark of 2,438 set by Toronto's Felix Potvin in 1996-97.
ISLANDERS 5, CANADIENS 1: Mark Parrish and Roman Hamrlik each had two goals to move New York closer to a playoff berth.
Adrian Aucoin also scored for the Islanders, whose magic number to clinch the final slot in the East dropped to two over Buffalo.
Rick DiPietro stopped 20 shots - allowing only Jason Ward's goal - for his 22nd win. The Islanders have won 25 at home, their best total since winning 26 in the 1984-85 season.
The Islanders scored twice in 43 seconds within the first five minutes to take a 2-0 lead. Then New York scored on three consecutive shots in a 3:23 span late in the second to make it 5-0.
OILERS 3, STARS 1: Ryan Smyth broke a second-period tie with a power-play goal, and Edmonton boosted its playoff chances, improving to 89 points to draw even with seventh-place St. Louis in the West. The Stars' franchise-record home unbeaten streak ended at 17 (13-0-4).
Radek Dvorak had the tying goal in the second, and Ty Conklin had 29 saves for the streaking Oilers, 11-1-2-4 in their past 18.
Marc-Andre Bergeron's goal from the right circle with 7:34 left made it 3-1.
WILD 5, AVALANCHE 4 (OT): Marc Chouinard scored his second of the game 53 seconds into overtime for host Minnesota.
Chouinard poked the rebound of a shot by Stephane Veilleux under the leg pad of goaltender Tommy Salo, and the Avalanche fell to 1-5-1-1 in its past eight. Peter Forsberg had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche, while Alexandre Daigle scored twice and added an assist for the Wild.
Minnesota built a 4-2 lead with less than nine minutes left in regulation, only to see Colorado tie it. Forsberg made it 4-3 with his 18th of the year, then assisted on John-Michael Liles' tying goal with 1:09 to play.
SABRES 4, RANGERS 3: Mark Messier scored and then was given a hero's salute in what could have been his last home game with New York.
Messier's 694th goal in his 1,756 game wasn't enough as Buffalo stayed alive in the East playoff race.
The New York captain tied it at 1 when he scored his 18th of the season with 57 seconds left in the first.
When the game ended, both teams stayed on the ice to tap their sticks and applaud the likely Hall of Famer. Messier skated around, waving to the adoring crowd while wiping away tears.
FLAMES 1, COYOTES 0: Jarome Iginla scored 40th of the season and Miikka Kiprusoff had 27 as host Calgary clinched its first playoff berth in eight years.
Iginla scored on a power play at 15:53 of the first and Kiprusoff made it stand. Iginla has 72 points this season.
Calgary outshot Phoenix 32-27.
The Coyotes finished the game strong with 13 shots in the third. They nearly scored the tying goal on the power play with four minutes remaining while Calgary's Martin Gelinas served a slashing penalty.
BLUE JACKETS: They recalled right wing Tim Jackman from AHL Syracuse.
FLYERS: Captain Keith Primeau (concussion) and veteran defenseman Eric Desjardins (broken arm) are expected to return tonight at Montreal.
