(Sunday, March 29th)

Final Score: Nashville 4, Detroit 3

Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - Ryan Suter's power-play goal late in regulation sent Nashville over Detroit, 4-3, at Joe Louis Arena.

Steve Sullivan had a goal and a helper for the Predators, who have won three in a row and hold the seventh spot in the Western Conference with 84 points, now two behind sixth-place Columbus, which lost to St. Louis earlier Sunday.

Joel Ward and Jerred Smithson also tallied while Pekka Rinne stopped 33 shots for the win.

Mikael Samuelsson, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen for the Red Wings, who have dropped three of four and failed to tie San Jose for the top spot in the West.

Chris Osgood allowed four goals on 26 shots in defeat.

Despite their defeat Sunday, the defending Stanley Cup champions clinched the Central Division title for the eighth straight season because Chicago also lost Sunday, falling at home to Vancouver, 4-0.

Just 20 seconds after the Red Wings tied the game, Chris Chelios went off for cross-checking. That set up Suter, who took a blind backhand dish from Sullivan inside the blue line, stepped up and ripped a shot off the far post for a 4-3 Nashville lead with 4:36 left in the third period.

Detroit pulled Osgood for an extra attacker with 1:19 to play but the Preds slammed the door shut.

"Puck possession is what they live off," Sullivan said of the Red Wings. "We were able to hang around, our goaltender gave us a chance, they made a couple mistakes and we were able to capitalize."

Only 20 seconds into a Nashville power-play, Sullivan snuck a shot under Osgood's pad at the right post for a 1-0 lead 2:25 into the contest.

With the Preds on another man-advantage, Zetterberg broke in and scored with the backhand at 4:29, then Detroit was denied a chance to go ahead with 1:15 remaining, as Franzen was ruled to have kicked a loose puck in the crease between Rinne's pads.

The Wings eventually got that one-goal edge, as Samuelsson converted on a 5-on-3 power play with a little less than five minutes left in the second period.

The Predators regained a one-goal edge with a pair of scores in only 20 seconds, as Ward knotted the game at 11:35 and Smithson tallied at 11:55.

Franzen picked up the equalizer with 5:25 left in regulation on a long shot from the right point.

"It's tough when you're working hard all game, then...two quick goals," Zetterberg lamented. "All of a sudden you're fighting it."

Game Notes

Nashville leads the season series, 3-2-0, with one final meeting, in Detroit, on April 9...Zetterberg's tally was his 30th of the season, the fourth straight campaign he's reached that mark.

03/30 00:18:45 ET