April 1, 2006

Email this Print this BY HELENE ST. JAMES

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

When Yzerman scored in the first period of the 3-2 overtime loss to Chicago, he surpassed Mario Lemieux for eighth all-time in NHL goals with 691. With nine games remaining, Yzerman may well catch up to Mark Messier, who is next on the list with 694 career goals.

Earlier this month, Yzerman became the 10th player to play in 1,500 NHL games, and he moved into seventh place all-time in NHL assists with the 1,050th of his career in January.

Yzerman has responded to this with his trademark humility.

"He doesn't really talk about his accomplishments too much," Chris Osgood said. "Half the time when he does accomplish something, nobody even knows it's coming up because he doesn't say anything or nobody else says anything. He has more goals than Mario ... he's been a pillar of strength for our organization."

The goal was Yzerman's fourth in the past five games; he also has five assists in his past seven games.

Yzerman, whose groin sidelined him eight of the first 10 games of the season and most of December, had played in double figures in 23 straight games. Since February's Olympic break, he hadn't played less than 12:25 in any game.

"I actually started to feel my play picking up before the break, really -- a few weeks before the break," Yzerman said after picking up two assists in the Wings' 4-2 victory over Nashville on Thursday night.

"Last thing I needed (after) missing a lot of games early was an Olympic break. I felt like I was really coming along. First couple games off the break I felt sluggish but I have been able to pick up since then."

As well as Yzerman has been playing, the Wings know they need him fresh for the playoffs, and Babcock said Yzerman would sit out either Sunday at Minnesota or Monday at Calgary.

NOTEBOOK: Forward Dan Cleary received missed the game with bruised ribs, but Babcock said he may be back Sunday. Defenseman Mathieu Schneider sat out with what the team said was a lower body injury, and Babcock was less certain Schneider would play at Minnesota.

Contact HELENE ST. JAMES at 313-222-2295 or hstjames@freepress.com. Free Press sports writer George Sipple contributed.