DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings are desperate for wins as they try to get into the playoffs for the 23rd straight time. On a night in which they barely beat the worst team in the Western Conference, coach Mike Babcock didnt diminish the importance of the much-needed victory. Tomas Tatar scored on Detroits third shootout attempt, and Jimmy Howard stopped all three Edmonton attempts to lift the Red Wings to a 2-1 win over the Oilers on Friday night. "Huge," Babcock said. "Howie, obviously, in the shootout, bailing us out was a real positive for us. "It gives us some confidence." Howard finished with 21 saves. Edmontons Ryan Smyth tied the game midway through the third period. Smyth scored on a shot from the slot that was set up by Detroit defenceman Brendan Smiths backhanded giveaway. "I absolutely didnt expect that," Smyth said. "I thought he was going to throw it around the boards. Smith just threw it up the middle." Riley Sheahan put the Red Wings ahead 1-0 late in the first period. They lost the lead and failed to take advantage of power plays late in regulation and midway through overtime. The banged-up Red Wings are missing numerous key players, including Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, because of injuries and that is forcing players such as Sheahan to go from prospects to NHL players. Sheahan, who played only once in the league in each of the previous two years, said playing 26 games for the Red Wings has made him more comfortable. "Every day is a little step further," he said. "The guys have been awesome. Its a fun atmosphere and a great team to play for." Edmontons franchise is far from the greatness it enjoyed decades ago and is close to being eliminated from the playoff race for the eighth straight season. Oilers coach Dallas Eakins, though, has been pleased with how much effort his players appear to be giving despite their place in the standings. "What weve been preaching to them and they understand, down the stretch are the building blocks for training camp," Eakins said. "We dont want to go into full-teaching mode when we hit training camp. We want to hit the ground running and have a foundation on how were going to play. On a lot of nights, were starting to see how we want to play. "We still have such a long way to go to get up to be able to play with the top teams on a nightly basis, but were taking the necessary steps." The last time the Oilers were in the playoffs they beat Detroit in the first round and went on to lose to Carolina in Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup finals. With much less at stake, the Oilers went into the third period with a shot to win at Joe Louis Arena for the first time since 2009. Detroits young lineup didnt generate many scoring chances against Viktor Fasth, who made 22 saves. He was acquired from Anaheim earlier this month for draft picks and won his Oilers debut against Minnesota on Tuesday in a shootout. Each team had only one shot in the opening five minutes of the lacklustre game, which had many more sloppy moments than spectacular stretches. "I didnt think either team was real smooth," Babcock said. "It was kind of a grind." Detroit was up 1-0 after two periods and probably didnt feel comfortable after losing one-third of their previous 27 games when entering the third with the lead. The Red Wings allowed the Oilers to pull into a tie because Smith failed to clear the puck out of their end or at least pass it to a teammate, and Smyth took advantage. "If (Smith) puts it on the guys tape on our team and you skate out through the middle, I like it," Babcock said. "When you turn it over, it doesnt look very good." NOTES: Babcock said he hopes F Darren Helm, who has been out with a concussion since March 4, will play Tuesday night at home against Toronto. ... The Red Wings had lost two straight. ... Edmonton has lost three of four. ... The Red Wings are 13-0-1 in their last 14 against the Oilers, who have lost eight straight in Detroit. Cheap Air Jordan 11 Retro All Black . Fans holding laudatory signs started showing up at Yankee Stadium when the gates opened at 4 p.m. Monday, an hour early in order to give them a chance to watch the New York captain take batting practice. Cheap Air Jordan 11 Retro Grey . The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal. http://www.cheapjordans11online.com/. - For years William Gay kept quiet. Cheap Air Jordan 11 Retro Pink . Kyle Shanahan was hired as offensive co-ordinator Monday after spending the previous four years in the same role with the Washington Redskins. Jordan 11 For Sale Cheap . -- Cordell Cato scored his first goal of the season and the San Jose Earthquakes survived a full half playing a man down to beat FC Dallas 2-1 Saturday night.DENVER -- Reflecting on his game during a monthlong recovery from a broken left rib has helped Ty Lawson come back strong. Kenneth Faried scored a career-high 32 points, Lawson had 30 in his third game back from the injury and the Denver Nuggets beat the skidding Los Angeles Lakers 134-126 on Friday night. "When you sit out, you watch a lot of tape from a lot of games and I could see things opening up or things I wasnt taking," said Lawson, averaging 27 points and 11.6 assists since his return. "Its been helping me shooting the 3s, and making them, and its opened up the rest of my game, the mid-range shots, getting to the basket and getting more assists." Lawson shot 5 of 7 on 3-pointers and had 17 assists, matching his career high. Faried grabbed 13 rebounds and Wilson Chandler scored 19 points. Timofey Mozgov and Evan Fournier added 13 points apiece for the Nuggets, who swept the three-game season series. Fournier said its evident by Lawsons recent play that he put his time away from the game to good use. "When youre injured, you have the time to relax and think of what you can do better," Fournier said. "Hes so fast. Hes so good. Im just glad hes back on the team because he brings so much for us." Certainly more than the Lakers could deal with on this night. "He is fast, he can shoot, he can do everything," Lakers swingman Xavier Henry said. "He had a good game and you take your hat off to him." Los Angeles got 27 points from Pau Gasol but could not avoid its third straight defeat and sixth in eight games. This one ensured the clubs first losing season since going 34-48 in 2004-05. Jordan Farmar and Robert Sacre had 24 points apiece for the Lakers, who were coming off a 142-94 loss to the LLos Angeles Clippers on Thursday.dddddddddddd The 48-point defeat was the biggest in franchise history for the Lakers, who have given up an average of 136 points in their last three losses. "You cant win that way," coach Mike DAntoni said. "We are trying everything we can do. ... I dont know if the air has gone out or we are tired or what the problem is." Trailing by 19 heading into the fourth quarter, the Lakers put together a 9-2 spurt to pull to 117-104 with 7:40 remaining. But they couldnt cut the lead below double digits until the final 1:30, and Faried responded with a layup on the other end before Gasol put in a final basket that still left the Lakers well short. "I know Im tired of it and our team is tired of it, but our defence needs to get better," Sacre said. "Thats the key, our defence. If we get guys (opponents) averaging 140 points each night, its not good enough." Faried hit a reverse layup in the final moments of the second quarter to push Denvers lead at halftime to 77-66 in what was its highest-scoring opening half of the season. The Lakers had pulled into a 55-all tie when Farmar and Ryan Kelly hit 3-pointers sandwiched around a 3 by Randy Foye, but the Nuggets gained some separation with a 10-0 burst that began and ended on baskets by Lawson. Denver led 42-35 after the first quarter, surpassing its previous high for points in the first by a point. NOTES: Gasol played in his 898th career game, ranking 29th among active players. ... The Nuggets previous high in the first half was 69 points against Orlando on Jan. 11. ... Faried had his 58th career double-double. Denver is 47-11 in those games. ... The Lakers had 47 rebounds to 43 for Denver, snapping a string of 11 consecutive games in which they were outrebounded. ' ' '