By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com

Red Wings 3, Blue Jackets 1 – The Red Wings moved up to the eighth and final playoff spot after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

LSJ Logo incertLuke Glendening, Darren Helm and Henrik Zetterberg each scored a goal for Detroit, while the Blue Jackets’ lone goal was scored by Alexander Wennberg with one minute left in regulation.

Detroit’s goaltender Jimmy Howard picked up the victory, stopping 27 of 28 shots.

The Red Wings are now 35-25-11 on the season, good for 81 points and fourth place in the Atlantic Division. They are one point ahead of Philadelphia for the final playoff spot with 11 games remaining.

Detroit will continue its road trip against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.Eye on the D

Record: 35-25-11   81 pts

4th Place in Atlantic Division (8 pts behind Florida)

8th Place in Eastern Conference (24 pts behind Washington)

1 point ahead of Philadelphia for the last playoff spot

Magic # to clinch 25th straight playoff berth: 26 pts

Magic # to clinch Atlantic Division title: 31 pts

Misery # towards elimination from a playoff berth: 24 pts

Misery # towards elimination from Atlantic Division title: 15 pts

Eliminated from Eastern Conference title contention

Next Game: 03/19/2016 @ Florida Panthers 7:00 p.m. @ BB&T Center

Stats: Goals- Luke Glendening (5), Darren Helm (11), Henrik Zetterberg (13) Assists- Justin Abdelkader (21), Andreas Athanasiou (6), Dylan Larkin (21), Riley Sheahan (9). Goaltender- Jimmy Howard W (9-10-5) 27 saves on 28 shots.