Red Wings foil Blues' attempt to clinch spot

ST. LOUIS -- Marc Lamothe won in his second start of the season as the Detroit Red Wings clinched first place overall in the NHL with a 3-2 victory over the Blues on Thursday night.

The Blues missed a chance to clinch their 25th straight playoff berth, which would extend the longest current streak in professional sports. Instead, the loss in their regular-season home finale put them in a three-way tie with the Oilers and Predators for seventh in the Western Conference with two games to go.

Boyd Devereaux and Steve Thomas scored first-period goals to give the Red Wings an early 2-0 lead. Ray Whitney's 14th goal of the season broke a 2-2 second-period tie. Detroit was limited to a season-low 12 shots, including only two in the second and four in the third, but scored on three of its first eight shots against Chris Osgood, who was named the NHL defensive player of the month earlier in the day.

Mike Sillinger scored on the rebound of a shot from the point by Chris Pronger at 1:52 of the second. Brian Savage's 15th goal, also on a rebound, came just over a minute later.

The Red Wings regained the lead despite taking two shots in the second. Whitney scored his goal at 17:58 with another high shot.

Notes: The Red Wings' previous low for shots this season was 19, twice. The last time was Oct. 20 in a 2-1 loss to the Canadiens. ... Detroit is 37-2-4-1 when leading after two periods. ... Chelios has five assists in his last four games. ... The Blues fell to 24-11 in one-goal games. ... St. Louis did not have a penalty for the first time since 1979.