March 28, 2006

ST. LOUIS -- The Wings' fourth-line contributed offensively and Steve Yzerman hit another career milestone in a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Monday night.

With the victory, the Red Wings (49-15-7) clinched a playoff spot.

"When you look at the leadership we have here, that's why we win on a consistent basis," Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "Obviously we have talent, but these guys drive the bus.

"I saw (Yzerman) going so fast one time out there tonight, I told him 'You gotta be careful. I catch you going that fast I expect that all time.' "

Yzerman tied Mario Lemieux for eighth place on the all-time goal-scoring list with his 690th goal at 9:45 of the second period. He needs four goals to tie Mark Messier for seventh place.

Yzerman downplayed his achievement.

"If anything, it shows how good he was because he played probably four or five years less than I did," Yzerman said of Lemieux. "So, that's quite an achievement by him than anything I've done."

Yzerman and Johan Franzen scored 47 seconds apart in the second period to give the Wings a 3-0 lead.

Yzerman has a three-game goal scoring streak and a five-game point streak. Yzerman's last three-game goal scoring streak was Oct. 23-30, 2003, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

"I feel pretty good out there," Yzerman said. "The goals I've gotten -- tonight I'm just in the right spot. I'm pleased that pucks are going in the net, whether they're great goals or not. They're going in the net. Just hope it continues."

Yzerman wasn't the only player to score a significant goal. Kirk Maltby snapped a 33-game goal-scoring drought and tallied his first multiple-point game of the season. He opened the scoring at 2:01 of the first and assisted on Franzen's goal.

"I thought Malts was good and that line was good," Babcock said. "That line got two big goals for us and they were real dangerous for us. They did a lot of grinding and that's what we liked."

Dan Cleary, who missed the past two games with the flu, chipped in two assists and Tomas Holmstrom put the game away 34 seconds into the third period with his 25th goal of the season.

Manny Legace was 57.3 seconds away from his second consecutive shutout and seventh of the season. Petr Cajanek scored on a rebound for his 10th goal of the season to ruin the shutout bid.

The Wings bounced back from a disappointing 5-4 shootout loss on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Wings squandered a 3-0 lead in that game.

The lowly Blues (20-38-12) weren't able to mount a similar comeback.

Babcock had lamented that the Wings had several chances to score a fourth goal Saturday night to put the game out of reach but didn't.

Against the Blues, they needed just 34 seconds for Holmstrom to score.

"We obviously played much better," Yzerman said. "We were rebounding pretty well."

Contact GEORGE SIPPLE at 313-223-4796 or gsipple@freepress.com.

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