It wasn't too long ago that the Detroit Red Wings thought they'd lost sight of St. Louis atop the Western Conference standings. Now they have the Blues squarely in their sights.
Sergei Fedorov got his 300th goal and Detroit scored four times in the third period as the Red Wings dampened the Vancouver Canucks' playoff chances with a 6-3 victory Wednesday night.
Steve Duchesne had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, who moved within a point of St. Louis for first place in the Central Division and Western Conference. The Blues, who play host to Detroit on Saturday, have two games in hand.
"I guess there's a chance we could catch them," said Brendan Shanahan, who had two assists for Detroit. "But at the same time our focus is on playing our best hockey."
Detroit has won four straight and is 5-1-1 in its last seven.
"If we catch St. Louis, fine," defenseman Chris Chelios said. "But obviously they're playing well, too."
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for Vancouver, which was 5-1 in in its past six contests. The Canucks trail San Jose for the final Western playoff spot with only five games remaining.
"It's just a loss, that's all it is," Canucks coach Marc Crawford said. "We just have to go on and get ready for the next game."
Crawford was upset at four high-sticking penalties called against his team, two of which led to Detroit power-play goals.
"They got a lot of breaks tonight," Crawford said. "The league is hyper-sensitive to high-sticking right now and they played it to the hilt."
Chelios, who drew one of the penalties, agreed the NHL is cracking down on high-sticking in the wake of high-profile attacks.
"I don't think it's happening any more than usual, but they're calling it more," Chelios said.
Vancouver took a 3-2 lead on third-period goals from Marty Baron and Brendan Morrison before Detroit rallied.
Todd Gill tied it by pushing a nice centering pass from Kirk Maltby past goalie Felix Potvin at 8:09.
Kris Draper put Detroit ahead by deflecting Duchesne's shot behind Potvin 2:26 later, and Stacy Roest added an insurance goal on a power play at 15:21 when he gloved down Fedorov's rebound and fired it into the net.
Duchesne scored into an empty net with 1:02 remaining.
"We came out in the third period ready to win the game and I can't believe we lost," Vancouver's Ed Jovanovski said. "But we lost it when we didn't capitalize on our opportunities. They have a lot of firepower, and when you give up power-play chances they're going to capitalize on that."
Chris Osgood made 19 saves for Detroit. Potvin stopped 26 shots.
Detroit played the third period without captain Steve Yzerman, held out as a precaution after a second-period leg injury.
Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom missed the final two periods after he was hit in the face with an Yzerman shot in the first. He suffered a cut lip and left the arena for dental work.
Detroit coach Scotty Bowman refused to discuss the injuries.
Morrison broke a 2-2 tie 4:13 into the third when he converted a pass from Andrew Cassels. Morrison has seven points in as many games since the Canucks acquired him March 14 in the trade that sent Alexander Mogilny to New Jersey.
Baron wiped out a 2-1 Detroit lead 1:18 earlier when his shot from the top of the left circle got through traffic and past Osgood.
Vancouver scored just 1:11 into the game after Mark Messier won a left-circle faceoff back to Marcus Naslund, who blasted a shot over Osgood's left shoulder.
Fedorov's 300th tied it on a power play 2:59 into the second when he converted a short pass from Brendan Shanahan in front of the net.
The Red Wings took a 2-1 lead at 7:55 of the second when Shanahan made a long drop near the Canucks' line to Murphy, who shot the puck through Potvin's legs