With two markers in the 4-1 victory, Marian Hossa reached the 40-goal benchmark for the third time in his career. The Detroit Red Wings (51-19-9) won their second straight game on consecutive nights to boost their season win total to 51 games. The Buffalo Sabres (38-32-9) lost a crucial game as they sit four points back from the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Over at Die by the Blade, D.O. talks about how the loss hurts the Sabres' playoff chances.

As demonstrated in the lovely photo of Johan Franzen to the left, the game got a bit physical. The Mule suffered a cut in the first period, but was able to return to the game after getting stitched up and adding a visor to his helmet.

• Hossa has now scored three goals in the past two games, including both games' game-winners. (P.S. He also earned an assist tonight.) He has been a clutch player all season long. I can't wait to see what he will do for us in the postseason, but it also makes you pray that GM Ken Holland can find a way to keep him for next season.
  
• The Sabres came out strong in the first period, peppering goaltender Chris Osgood with 14 shots. However, Ozzie was able to hang on and nearly had a shutout until a Buffalo goal at 9:54 in the third period. With win #398, Osgood tied former Wing (and Buffalo) netminder Dominik Hasek.
  
• Defenseman Brad Stuart opened the scoring with just 1:19 remaining in the middle frame on a hard shot from the high slot. Thanks to Tomas Holmstrom screening down front, Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller didn't have much of a chance on making the save. It was Detroit's lone power-play tally of the night.
• With a helper tonight, Pavel Datsyuk inched closer to reaching the 100-point plateau for the first time in his career. He now has 96 points this season and has three more games to reach the century mark. If he does, Datsyuk would become just the sixth Red Wing to do so.
  
• Captain Nicklas Lidstrom padded Detroit's lead with an empty-netter in the remaining minute of play, giving him his 227th goal of his career. The marker moved him into a tie for 12th among NHL defensemen alongside Kevin Hatcher and Steve Duchesne.
• Speaking of the Sabres, they just signed Travis Turnbull to a two-year, entry-level contract. Turnbull just finished his senior year at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). He was assigned to Portland (AHL).

Christy's Red Wing of the Game: Marian Hossa

Marian Hossa

#81 / Right Wing / Detroit Red Wings

Height: 6-1

Weight: 210

Born: Jan 12, 1979

The Red Wings play next on Thursday night against the Nashville Predators at Joe Louis Arena.