into Toronto missing several key players. But the Raptors may as well ha

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Depleted by injuries, and maybe just due for a drop-off, the Detroit Red Wings have found their remarkable 22-season streak of reaching the playoffs in jeopardy. Well, with 12 games to go, they are still in line for a spot. Gustav Nyquists third-period goal gave the Red Wings a 3-2 victory Saturday over the Minnesota Wild, their fourth win in five games. "The young guys are playing more and more and starting to believe in themselves more and more," said Jimmy Howard, who made 28 saves. "Its a fun time of year because youre seeing what we have, and the future looks bright." Brendan Smith and David Legwand each scored on a power play for the Red Wings, who were in a 2-for-25 slump with the man advantage until getting goals on both of their opportunities in this rare afternoon start. The Red Wings also quieted the Wilds top line of Mikael Granlund, Zach Parise and Jason Pominville, held without a point for the first time in eight games. "For both teams it was a muddy track. There was no room for either team. It was just check, check, check, check, check. We found a way to get it done," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. The Red Wings, missing stars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg among others, moved into eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 79 points. Columbus has 78. Mikko Koivu gave the Wild an early lead with a power-play goal, and Charlie Coyle tied it on a third-period penalty shot. But the Wild, clinging to a wild card spot in the Western Conference, fell to 2-3-4 in nine games since the trade deadline. "We cant keep letting these points go to waste. Weve got to come into every game and play a solid 60 minutes," Coyle said, "Its coming down to the wire here, and weve got to make the most of it." The Wild, who have 83 points with 11 games remaining, are in seventh place, slightly ahead of Phoenix. The first team below the cut, Dallas, has 77 points but one more game left than the Wild. Minnesota coach Mike Yeo, prepared for questions from reporters about the recent slide, tried to stress optimism. "Were a confident team, and we feel good about where were going. We just have to jump start things a little bit right now," Yeo said. Just 15 seconds into the final frame, Johan Franzen, trailing Coyle on a breakaway, stuck his stick out to trip the struggling young centre. The penalty shot was awarded, the first of Coyles career. He used a slick right-left move to fake out Howard and tie the game at 2. That was Coyles second goal in 24 games. The momentum didnt last for the Wild, though. Nyquist, who has an NHL-leading 16 goals in 22 games since Jan. 20, sent a snap shot between Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter that Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper didnt appear to see right away and let get past his glove. The Red Wings thought they had another one barely a minute later when Franzen was called for making contact with Kuemper before the puck went in. Nyquist, who leads the Red Wings with 21 goals in just 45 of the teams 70 games since being called up from Grand Rapids of the AHL, credited centre Tomas Tatar for creating space. "He did a great job of driving the middle, and its his goal really. All I did was shoot," Nyquist said. Quipped Howard: "Us Maine guys know how to do it right." NOTES: The matinee was scheduled to accommodate the first Big Ten hockey championship game. ... The teams were due in Detroit for a Sunday night rematch, cramming their only two matchups this season into a 32-hour window. ... With Wisconsin taking on Ohio State, Suter and Wild teammate Dany Heatley had strong interest in the Big Ten title game. Heatley played two years for the Badgers from 1999-2001. Suter, a Madison area native, spent the 2003-04 season there before turning pro. ... Legwand was fined $5,000 Friday by the NHL for butting Pittsburghs Evgeni Malkin with the end of his stick when they played the Penguins on Thursday. ... Legwand has two goals and five assists in nine games since he was acquired from Nashville. ... Koivu ended a 13-game streak without a goal. He and Suter share the team lead with 32 assists. Greg Roberts Jersey . Not that Durant cared. The only streak he cares about is still intact. Adam Pankey Jersey . He managed to save par, and went on to put together his best opening round of the year. Calcavecchia and Wes Short Jr. http://www.wholesalepackersjerseys.com/?...-linsley-jersey. At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year. Trevor Davis Jersey . -- Canadian womens amateur golf champion Brooke Henderson is a little less starstruck as she prepares for her second career appearance at an LPGA Tour major event. Tony Brown Jersey . Balotelli was out at dinner with his brother Enoch and came home to discover he had been burgled. The car was later found abandoned. Balotelli wrote Saturday on Twitter: "I feel empty! No emotions .TORONTO -- The Brooklyn Nets limped into Toronto missing several key players. But the Raptors may as well have been missing a few of their own. DeMar DeRozan poured in 27 points while Kyle Lowry had 24, but -- until the final frantic few minutes -- the two had little help from their Toronto teammates in a 102-100 loss to the Nets on Tuesday. "We didnt play with that desperation attitude and weve got to have that every time we walk out because were not going to out-talent anybody," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "Were a team thats got to be scrappy and again, we didnt play that way until the last five minutes." Andray Blatche had 24 points to top the injury-depleted Nets (4-10), who came into the game on a five-game losing streak, last in the Atlantic Division, and with the third worst record in the NBA. Joe Johnson had 21, while Paul Pierce had 16 points and Kevin Garnett has 12 points with six rebounds. The Nets were missing Deron Williams (sprained ankle) Andrei Kirilenko (back spasms) and leading scorer Brook Lopez (sprained left ankle). But it was the Raptors (6-8) who could have used some more help. Steve Novak was the only other player to score in double figures with 12 for the Atlantic Division leaders, who lost for the first time in three games. Rudy Gay had nine points, while Tyler Hansbrough and Jonas Valanciunas had seven rebounds apiece. "We definitely didnt (score) in the paint too much, second-chance points, we missed a couple of rebounds that we shouldve had, they were just trying to bully us," DeRozan said. "We waited too long to lock down and throw a punch back." The Raptors trailed 81-76 heading into the fourth quarter of a game that saw neither team -- save for a handful of individual performances -- play particularly well. The Nets had assembled a 15-point lead with a little more than five minutes to go and the game seemed out of reach, but the Raptors came to life in the final two minutes. Gay drained a three with 24 seconds to pull the Raptors to 101-100. Shaun Livingston missed one of two free throws with 11 seconds left, but Gay passed off to an open Amir Johnson in the corner whose three-point attempt clanged off the rim. "Rudy couldve shouldve had a shot, he didnt take it," Casey said. "Amir had a clean look, it was straight, right on line, and he works on that shot eevery day in practice.dddddddddddd But (Gay) made that decision and I trust Rudy in that situation." The Raptors had one of their worst defensive efforts of the season, allowing the Nets to shoot 51 per cent from the field. The Raptors shot 44. Brooklyn outscored Toronto 48-28 in the paint, and outrebounded the Raptors 39-34. "They did whatever they wanted, whether it getting to the rim, jump shots," Casey said. "There was no redeeming qualities with our defence until the end, we got scrappy at the end." Nets coach Jason Kidd, who played for the same 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks team that Casey was a coach of, rubbed his hands over his face in sheer relief after Johnsons miss at the buzzer. "Those guys in that locker-room, I think they finally said they had enough," Kidd said. "They were talking for 48 minutes. The schemes defensively and offensively werent always perfect but those guys stayed the course. "Theres a bunch of guys in there with pride and they understood what they had to do tonight against the division leading Raptors. A big win on the road." Casey had kind words for Kidd before the game, saying he was "a reason why a lot of us (Dallas coaches) are around, his play as a player. We owe him a lot, just for what he did for us in Dallas as a player." But Casey said he wouldnt spend any time Tuesday catching up with Kidd, saying "Friendship is for the summertime." DeRozan got off to a strong start, making all five of his shots -- including three three-pointers -- in the opening 10 minutes, to put Toronto on top 28-26 heading into the second quarter. The Nets shot 55 per cent against Torontos lackadaisical defence in the second quarter, and seven straight points by Joe Johnson put the Nets up by four and the visitors took a 55-51 lead into the locker-room at halftime. DeRozan carried Toronto with 11 points in the third, but the Raptors couldnt make up any ground on the Nets, and a driving jumper with three seconds left in the quarter put Brooklyn up 81-76 with a quarter left. The game was the second of a four-game homestand for the Raptors, that has Toronto hosting the Miami Heat on Friday and Denver on Sunday. NOTES: The Nets roster features