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Playoff race: Red Wings reclaim eighth in the West

Wings

If the Stanley Cup playoffs were to start tomorrow, the Detroit Red Wings would be in. But just barely.

The Red Wings scored three unanswered goals to beat the L.A. Kings by a score of 3-1 on Wednesday night. The two points vaults the Red Wings back into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, but only one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Both teams have two games remaining in the regular season.

On the line for Red Wings is streak of consecutive post-season berths that spans three decades. They have not missed the playoffs since 1990.

The Blue Jackets franchise only has one playoff appearance in its history. That came in 2009.

However, the status of Red Wings forward Johan Franzen could be in question for Thursday’s game against the Nashville Predators at Joe Louis Arena. Franzen, who scored late in the third period to give Detroit a two-goal lead, didn’t finish the game with what MLive.com is reporting as an “undisclosed injury.”

“He’s been real good for us,’' Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock told MLive.com. “He didn’t finish the game, but hopefully he’ll be fine for tomorrow.’'

“Don’t know a whole bunch. They just took him off the bench, or made him sit on the bench. I couldn’t use him down the stretch. I’ll find out tomorrow.’'