Mike-Babcock-4-8-14

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has passed hockey legends Scotty Bowman and Jack Adams this season on Detroit's career wins list.

(The Associated Press)

BUFFALO, N.Y. – It was a special win for Mike Babcock Tuesday, but when the game ended, he was more focused on the next win, which would earn the Detroit Red Wings their 23rd consecutive playoff berth.

The Red Wings' 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at the First Niagara Center was Babcock's 414th with Detroit, moving him past Jack Adams and making him the franchise leader in wins.

“The win tonight is way more important than that (record) but I would say to you these are things you think about in the summer and I’m thrilled,” Babcock said. “No. 1, in order to do it you got to be there a long time. Jack Adams was there a long, long time.

“Tying Scotty Bowman (who has 411 wins with the Red Wings) was something (special) just because I know Scotty was there (nine seasons). For me to be in my ninth year, what it tells me is that my kids got to go to high school in the same town and that doesn’t happen for an NHL head coach very often, so I’m thankful.”

Babcock is 414-197-90 behind the Detroit bench during the regular season.

The Red Wings need just one point to secure a playoff spot. They can do it as early as Wednesday, when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins in a potential first-round preview (8 p.m., NBC Sports Exclusive).

“They’re going to be ready for us,” Babcock said. “If we do what we’re supposed to do and they do what they’re doing we could meet in the playoffs. Reality is it’s an important game.”

If the Red Wings don’t earn a point Wednesday, they still can get into the postseason by getting just one point in one of their final two games, Friday at home vs. Carolina and Sunday at St. Louis. They can also get in if New Jersey and Washington don’t win out (each has three games remaining).

“Try to get that (Wednesday),” Red Wings forward Johan Franzen said. “We got a few chances here, but we just got to keep playing like we’re playing. Keep doing things right and getting ready for the playoffs.”

Said Pavel Datsyuk: “It’s a good win because we needed points with everybody playing tonight and everybody climbing and still in the playoffs.”

The Red Wings are 5-1 in their past six games and 9-3-1 in their past 13.

The Red Wings weren’t in peak form early Tuesday against the team with the fewest points in the NHL, but they battled and found a way, scoring three times in the third period (Darren Helm, David Legwand and Datsyuk into an empty net) after Brendan Smith tied it in the second period.

“To me the big thing is to stay the course,” Babcock said. “If you get carried away, sometimes when you need to win more than the other team you start to press. We didn’t want to do that. We just wanted to play.”

Said Helm: “I thought we did a pretty good job. A few times we didn’t play quite up to our potential but we played hard when we needed to and scored when we had to and found a way to win.”

Jimmy Howard won his season-high fourth in a row.

“We just have to find a way to get a point or two points here tomorrow night and keep it rolling because we want to feel good heading into the playoffs,” Howard said.