Three straight wins for the Detroit Red Wings has that club on the verge of clinching a 25th straight Stanley Cup playoff appearance.
Facing the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, the Red Wings and goalie Jimmy Howard recorded a 3-0 win to move two points clear of the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division. Howard made 30 saves.
The Red Wings and Bruins face each other Thursday in Boston. Both teams have each played 80 games on their schedule, while the Bruins remain on the outside of the playoff picture for now.
#RedWings can clinch 25th consecutive playoff appearance with win (regulation, OT or shootout) tomorrow in Boston.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) April 7, 2016
Despite the loss, the Flyers still remain in the final Wild Card spot in the East, with three games remaining in their schedule.
Darren Helm opened the scoring for the Red Wings. He benefited from an odd bounce off the boards as Flyers rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere went to clear the puck in the opening period. The puck instead came to Helm, and he chipped it over Steve Mason to give Detroit the lead.
They didn’t look back.
The Red Wings extended that lead in the second period, and had a chance to really put the game away in the middle frame, had it not been for the great goaltending of Mason.