The Last Game »  Detroit Red Wings 3   Nashville Predators 0

      DETROIT - The Detroit Red Wings knew they wouldn't have the emotional boost of their last game. They still skated off with another division title.
       Curtis Joseph earned his 41st career shutout, and Sergei Fedorov had a goal and an assist to help the Red Wings clinch their third straight Central Division championship with a 3-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Monday night.
       Joseph stopped 27 shots for his fifth shutout of the season. He earned the NHL's second star for Monday night.
       Steve Yzerman and Henrik Zetterberg also scored for the Red Wings, who have 106 points.
       Nashville has lost three straight.
       Detroit had beaten division rival St. Louis on Saturday in a contest that featured a couple of brawls late in the game.
       Kirk Maltby said the Red Wings knew the game would be nothing like the Blues game, "but we wanted the two points."
       The division title was Detroit's seventh in 10 seasons.
       Yzerman's power-play goal gave Detroit a 1-0 lead with 7:56 left in the second period. He slammed a loose puck into an empty net during a goal-mouth scramble. It was Yzerman's second goal since returning from offseason knee surgery in late February.
       Fedorov's goal, also on the power play, came with 6:49 left on a slap shot from the point. It was his 33rd goal of the season. Zetterberg added an empty-net goal with 1:13 remaining.
       One of Joseph's saves came just 11 seconds into the game when he gloved Rem Murray's wrist shot from the high slot.

The Next Game » Islanders at Red Wings
  Thursday, April 3rd, 2003 - 8:00PM ET   TV: FSD ch24 and ESPN ch22


WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Rank Team GP W L T OTL GF GA PTS
1  Dallas Stars 80 44 17 15 4 241 168 107
2  Detroit Red Wings 79 47 20 9 3 256 192 106
3 Vancouver Canucks 80 45 22 12 1 261 203 103
4 Colorado Avalanche 79 40 18 13 8 239 184 101
5  St Louis Blues 79 41 22 10 6 245 209 98
6 Minnesota Wild 79 41 27 10 1 193 170 93
7  Anaheim Mighty Ducks 79 39 26 9 5 197 186 92
8 Edmonton Oilers 80 36 25 10 9 227 223 91

» Each team plays 82 games.
» Ottawa and Dallas each have 107 points in the race for the Presidents Cup. (best record in the NHL)