Infos » eacons from 3-point range

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Red Wings coach Mike Babcock will enjoy the win more than the milestone for now. As special as it was to pass Jack Adams franchise win total, making the playoffs is the more immediate priority. Darren Helm scored the go-ahead goal 3:33 into the third period to spark a three-goal outburst and inch Detroit to the cusp of clinching a playoff berth following a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. "The win tonight is way more important than that," Babcock said, when asked about the significance of earning his 414th career victory, one more than Adams. "But what I would say to you is these are things you think about the summer. And Im thrilled." Babcock then shifted his attention to his teams next test. The Red Wings (38-27-14) travel to play Pittsburgh on Wednesday needing only one point to secure one of the Eastern Conferences two wild-card playoff spots, and extend the teams run of post-season berths to 23 straight seasons. "I know weve got a game in Pittsburgh tomorrow. Were going to enjoy this tonight," Babcock said, noting the game at Pittsburgh could potentially be a first-round playoff preview. "The reality is, its an important game tomorrow." Brendan Smith, David Legwand and Pavel Datsyuk, into an empty net, also scored for the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard made 25 saves in a game the Red Wings rallied back after spotting the Sabres a 1-0 lead. Zemgus Girgensons scored both goals for the Sabres (21-49-9), who are already guaranteed of finishing in last place once the season ends on Sunday. The Red Wings continued their domination of Buffalo. Theyve won eight straight since a 6-2 loss on Oct. 13, 2009, and improved to 23-2-1-1 against Buffalo since March 27, 1996, according to STATS. "Its one good step in the right direction," Howard said. "Weve got to find a way to get a point or two points there tomorrow and keep it rolling, because you want to feel good going into the playoffs." Howard did his part in stopping several shots to keep the game tied at 1 during a Sabres two-man advantage that spanned 1:51 in the second period. His best stops came on bang-bang chances. After turning aside Cody Hodgsons hard shot from the left circle, Howard kicked out his right pad to foil Rasmus Ristolainens attempt to convert the rebound. Sabres coach Ted Nolan said coming up empty on the power play changed the games momentum. "When you play a good team like Detroit, they know how to close deals. We have a 5-on-3 with a chance to go ahead, we dont do it, and thats what happens," Nolan said. "You look at the things we didnt do right." The Red Wings found their groove to start the third. Helm started the play that led to his go-ahead goal by winning a faceoff to the left of the Sabres net. He drew the puck back to Kyle Quincey, whose shot from the left point was deflected on its way to the net. Matt Hackett made the initial stop, but was unable to control the rebound, which squirted through a crowd of players in front. Helm gathered up the loose puck and took a few steps to his right, where he snapped it into the open side before Hackett had time to recover. Legwand then made it 3-1 to seal the win by beating Hackett through the legs with 4:14 remaining. Girgensons made it close 2:03 later by capping a great individual rush, in which he got between two defenders and roofed a shot over Howards right shoulder. NOTES: The Sabres called up G Andrey Makarov from AHL Rochester to serve as the backup. He became the eighth goalie to dress for at least one game this season, including Ryan Vinz, a Sabres HarborCenter employee who backed up Jhonas Enroth the day Ryan Miller was traded to St. Louis. ... Red Wings RW Daniel Alfredssons assist on Smiths goal upped career total to 712, tying him with Jean Beliveau and Scott Stevens for 48th on NHL list. ... Sabres RW Chris Stewart returned after missing 16 games with a lower body injury, while D Christian Ehrhoff -- nicknamed "Ear-Hoff" by his teammates -- played two days after requiring numerous stitches to close a gash in his right ear, which was struck by a puck. Mark Fayne Jersey . "That was a great lift for the staff," Padres manager Bud Black said. Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal homered, and Chase Headley drove in three runs, as the Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 11-1 on Friday night. Jean-Francois Jacques Jersey . 15-23, the Ottawa Senators will by hoping to avoid going five straight games without a victory for the first time since a 0-3-2 drought from Oct. http://www.officialoilersfanstore.com/au...-oilers-jersey/. Raonic, the mens No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed more than three hours to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and become the first Canadian man into the fourth round at Roland Garros. Leon Draisaitl Jersey .6 seconds left to give the Toronto Raptors a 92-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in an exhibition game Wednesday night. Custom Edmonton Oilers Jerseys . Wearing bib No. 1, Maze skied through the gates cleanly to defend her big first-run lead and finish 0.07 seconds ahead of Anna Fenninger of Austria. Defending champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany was third, trailing 0.College Park, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. You catch all of the action live on TSN at 7pm et./4pm pt. Syracuse was cruising right along with wins in each of its first 25 games, but after a shocking home loss to Boston College last Wednesday (62-59), it ventured to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday and battled wire-to-wire with Duke before losing 66-60 following a controversial ending that resulted in head coach Jim Boeheims ejection. At 12-2 in the ACC, the Orange have slid out of the drivers seat in the league standings, as they are a game and a half behind Virginia for first place (14-1). Maryland sports a 15-12 overall record this season with a decisive split between its success at home (10-3) compared to on the road (2-7). The Terps snapped a two-game skid last Tuesday when they took care of business versus Wake Forest, 71-60, their third straight home win, improving to 7-7 in the ACC. Maryland leads the all-time series with Syracuse, 5-2, although the sides havent met since 2008. With the Orange trailing by two points with 11 seconds remaining, C.J. Fair was called for a charge on what appeared to be a borderline call. It caused Boeheim to lose his temper, receive two technical fouls and get ejected from the game. Duke converted 3-of-4 at the line following the technicals to effectively put the game away. The squad struggled shooting in the hostile road environment, making less than 39 percent of it field goal tries, including just 2-of-9 from 3-point range. Jerami Grant posted team highs in points (17) and rebounds (eight), Fair finished with 12 points and Tyler Ennis was dreadful from the floor (2-of-13) but still had nine points, six assists and four steals. Syrracuses offense has been far from spectacular this season, as it shoots a modest 44.dddddddddddd6 percent from the field for 69.2 ppg, but it has risen to elite status thanks to its excellent defense, which ranks seventh nationally in allowing only 58.6 ppg. It also lives comfortably in terms of its rebounding (+4.0) and turnover (+4.9) margins, with the latter ranking eighth-best in the country. Fair pours in a team-high 16.4 ppg and grabs 6.0 rpg. Trevor Cooney (13.0 ppg) does the majority of his damage from 3-point range, knocking down 77 long-range buckets at a 41.4 percent clip. Grant (12.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg) is another staple in the frontcourt, and Ennis (11.7 ppg, 5.7 apg) has made a name for himself as a clutch playmaker as a freshman. The Terps carried a five-point lead into intermission of their most recent game and extended their advantage to as many as 16 down the stretch en route to the easy victory over Wake Forest. Although they were outshot from the field on the evening, 47.1 percent to 42.6 percent, they outscored the Deacons from 3-point range, 24-9, and scored 18 points off of 18 Wake turnovers. Nick Faust was the spark plug off the bench with 20 points, while Charles Mitchell and Jake Layman scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, and Seth Allen and Evan Smotrycz netted 10 points apiece. Maryland has been able to successfully outpace its opponents this season, as it shoots 43.9 percent from the field for 71.8 ppg, while allowing 68.5 ppg on just 42.4 percent shooting. One of its biggest strengths comes on the glass with a +3.9 rebounding margin, but it is oftentimes held back by a lackluster free-throw percentage (.663). Dez Wells is the go-to scoring option with 14.8 ppg on greater than 48 percent field-goal shooting. Layman (12.1 ppg), Allen (12.0 ppg), Smotrycz (11.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Faust (10.1 ppg) round out the balanced attack and all four player have drained at least 33 3-pointers. ' ' '