By AP
DETROIT – Valtteri Filppula scored with 6:49 left and added an empty-net goal, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.
The Red Wings padded their lead to four points over Calgary for the last spot in the Western Conference playoffs with their sixth win in seven games. St. Louis moved a step closer toward being eliminated from the race with its fourth loss in six games.
Detroit's Jimmy Howard made 30 saves, and former Red Wing Ty Conklin stopped 20 shots.
Henrik Zetterberg and Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Red Wings, 9-2-1 since the Olympic break. Paul Kariya put St. Louis ahead in the first and Jay McClement made it 2-all early in the third.