Red-hot Predators surprise Red Wings

The Nashville Predators capped a big week with a confidence-building victory over the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

Ryan Suter broke a tie on a power play with 4:36 left, and Pekka Rinne made 33 saves to help Nashville win its third straight, a 4-3 victory over Red Wings last night in Detroit.

Not only did the Predators defeat the defending champs, who are second in the Western Conference, they also beat the conference's top team, the San Jose Sharks, on Thursday, and Los Angeles on Saturday.

"This crew deserves a lot of credit for this week," coach Barry Trotz said.

It also was Nashville's fourth game in six days.

Steve Sullivan had a goal and an assist and Joel Ward, Jerred Smithson also scored for the Predators, seventh in the Western Conference playoff race with six games remaining.

Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson, and Johan Franzen scored for Detroit, which lost its second straight and third in four games. Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom each had two assists, and Chris Osgood stopped 22 shots.

Suter beat Osgood with a slap shot from the top of the left circle for his seventh goal, just 29 seconds after Chris Chelios took a cross-checking penalty.

Senators 3, Lightning 0 - Brian Elliott made 20 saves for his first NHL shutout, and Dany Heatley, Ryan Shannon, and Jason Spezza scored to lift Ottawa to victory in Tampa.

Heatley scored his team-high 35th goal of the season on a power play 9:45 into the first period, and Shannon scored at 13:44 on a deflection off a Lightning player.

The goal originally was credited to Nick Foligno. But as Shannon slid the puck through the five-hole of goalie Karri Ramo, Matt Lashoff's attempt to clear the puck hit Ramo's leg, sending it back into the net.

Blues 5, Blue Jackets 2 - Patrik Berglund had a goal and two assists to help visiting St. Louis claim its fifth straight win.

T.J. Oshie and David Perron each had a goal and an assist, Brad Boyes and David Backes also scored, and Chris Mason gave up two shaky goals but stopped the other 26 shots he faced.

Ducks 4, Avalanche 1 - Bobby Ryan scored twice and Anaheim sent visiting Colorado to its seventh consecutive defeat and completed a season sweep of the Avalanche for the first time.

Jonas Hiller, who got the start after Jean-Sebastien Giguere allowed four goals on seven shots Friday night against Edmonton, had 26 saves.

Canucks 4, Blackhawks 0 - Roberto Luongo made 26 saves to match his career high with seven shutouts, and Daniel Sedin had two goals and an assist to spark visiting Vancouver.

Wild 3, Oilers 2 - Marian Gaborik had a goal and an assist and visiting Minnesota moved within three points of eighth-place St. Louis in the Western Conference playoff race.