Surging Red Wings close in on playoff spot

By Steve Keating

DETROIT (Reuters) - The revved-up Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Tuesday to record their fourth successive victory and close in on a playoff spot.

With their league-best 46th win, the Red Wings need two more victories from their final 12 games to clinch a 17th consecutive Stanley Cup playoffs berth and extend the longest current streak in North American professional sport.

Major League Baseball's New York Yankees sit a distant second with 13 consecutive playoff appearances.

Detroit sputtered through a horrendous February that saw them finish the month with just one win in 11 games, but now look to have turned the corner.

"We've got a way to go, intensity wise, focus wise, 60 minute game wise, you just have to continue to get better," Detroit coach Mike Babcock told reporters.

"It's nice to see we have won four in a row, we're getting our confidence back but we still got a long way to go."

Chris Chelios, the Wings' 46-year-old defenseman, was back on the ice on Tuesday after missing six games with a knee injury. Fellow defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski and Niklas Kronwall returned to action last week.

Detroit's Kirk Maltby and Chicago's Rene Bourque traded first-period goals before Pavel Datsyuk intercepted a clearing pass with five minutes remaining in the second and snapped a wrist shot past rookie netminder Corey Crawford to put the home side in front 2-1.