NHL-Highlights of Tuesday's NHL games.

April 8 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Tuesday's National Hockey League games. - - - Red Wings 4, Sabres 2 Darren Helm pushed Detroit closer to their 23rd consecutive playoff berth and coach Mike Babcock became the franchise leader in victories as the Red Wings beat the Buffalo Sabres. Helm scored 3:33 into the third period for a 2-1 lead and team mate David Legwand made it a two-goal edge later in the period as Detroit (38-27-14) came within a point of clinching a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Babcock passed legendary coach Jack Adams with his 414th win. - - - Avalanche 4, Oilers 1 The Avalanche posted a victory over the 28th-place Oilers to secure two very crucial points in their quest for home ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. Tyson Barrie and Jamie McGinn scored third-period goals and Colorado (51-21-7) moved within two points of the Western Conference-leading St Louis Blues. - - - Capitals 4, Blues 1 Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 50th goal of the season and assisted on two goals by center Nicklas Backstrom to help the Washington Capitals keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The Capitals have 85 points and trail the Columbus Blue Jackets by four points in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with three games to play. The Blues (52-20-7), who lost their season-high third straight game, remain on top of the Western Conference by just one point over Anaheim. - - - Wild 4, Bruins 3 (shootout) Mikko Koivu scored the only goal in a shootout as the Minnesota Wild rallied for a win over the Boston Bruins, clinching a return trip to the NHL playoffs. The Wild (42-26-12) got two goals from right winger Jason Pominville and tied the score at 3-3 with 1:05 left in regulation when defenseman Ryan Suter scored with an extra attacker on the ice. Boston fell to 53-18-8 but already has clinched the top spot in the Eastern Conference. - - - Stars 3, Predators 2 (shootout) Inching closer to their first playoff berth in five seasons, the Dallas Stars posted a shootout win over the Nashville Predators. Tyler Seguin scored the clincher in the shootout, firing a wrister over the glove of Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne as the Stars' fourth shooter. Dallas (39-29-11) holds a two-point lead on the Phoenix Coyotes for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. - - - Lightning 3, Maple Leafs 0 The Tampa Bay Lightning ended their late-season misery and the Toronto Maple Leafs was put out of theirs as rookie Ondrej Palat scored twice in the Lightning's victory over the Maple Leafs, eliminating the Maple Leafs from playoff contention. The win could ultimately prove costly for Tampa Bay however, as goaltender Ben Bishop and defenseman Sami Salo were injured. Tampa Bay improved to 43-27-9 and pulled within two points of Montreal for third place in the Eastern Conference. - - - Flyers 5, Panthers 2 The Philadelphia Flyers clinched a playoff berth with a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. Claude Giroux scored two goals and Steve Mason made 38 saves to lead the Flyers (41-29-9) to their triumph. - - - Rangers 4, Hurricanes 1 The New York Rangers moved closer to securing home-ice advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with a victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Brad Richards scored twice and Martin St Louis had three assists for New York (44-31-5) who has accumulated 93 points, good enough for fifth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind Tampa Bay. - - - Blue Jackets 4, Coyotes 3 (overtime) Ryan Johansen scored his 32nd goal of the season with 1:27 remaining in overtime, leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The win placed the eighth-place Blue Jackets (41-31-7) on the brink of qualifying for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference and the Coyotes were nudged closer to the edge of elimination in the Western Conference. - - - Senators 4, Islanders 1 Jason Spezza scored two goals exactly 20 minutes apart for the Ottawa Senators, who nonetheless were eliminated from playoff contention shortly before completing a win over the New York Islanders. Craig Anderson made 45 saves as Ottawa improved to 6-2-1 in its past nine games. (Editing by John O'Brien)