NEW YORK – Mark Messier scored a goal and then was given a hero’s salute Wednesday night in what could have been his last home game with the New York Rangers.

Messier’s 694th NHL goal in his 1,756 game wasn’t enough as the Rangers lost 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres, who stayed alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

The New York captain tied it at 1 when he scored his 18th of the season with 57 seconds left in the first period.

When the game ended, both teams stayed on the ice to tap their sticks and applaud the likely future Hall of Famer. Messier skated around, waving to the adoring crowd while wiping tears away from his face.

Red Wings 3, Jackets 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Robert Lang scored his first goal in a Detroit uniform, jamming in a loose puck in the third period to lead the Red Wings to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Red Wings’ fourth straight win gave them 107 points, clinching the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They also have a three-point lead over Tampa Bay in the race for the NHL’s best record.

Red Wings fans ran down to the glass and tossed two octopi on the ice, a Red Wings tradition, in celebration during the final minute.

Islanders 5, Canadiens 1

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Mark Parrish and Roman Hamrlik each had two goals to help the New York Islanders beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 Wednesday night and move closer to a playoff berth.

Adrian Aucoin also scored for the Islanders, whose magic number to clinch the final slot in the Eastern Conference playoffs dropped to two over Buffalo.

Senators 5, Panthers 4

SUNRISE, Fla. – Martin Havlat scored with 6:26 left in the third period to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 5-4 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

Wade Redden, Antoine Vermette, Chris Phillips and Marian Hossa also scored for the Senators, who improved to 15-1-2-1 against the Southeast Division this season.

Wild 5, Avalanche 4

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Marc Chouinard scored his second goal of the game 53 seconds into overtime to lift the Minnesota Wild past the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 on Wednesday.

Chouinard poked the rebound of a shot by Stephane Veilleux under the leg pad of Colorado goaltender Tommy Salo, and the Avalanche fell to 1-5-1-1 in their last eight games.

Peter Forsberg had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche, while Alexandre Daigle scored twice and added an assist for the Wild.

Oilers 3, Stars 1

DALLAS – Ryan Smyth broke a second-period tie with a power-play goal, and the Edmonton Oilers boosted their playoff chances with a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.

Edmonton improved to 89 points to draw even with seventh-place St. Louis in the Western Conference.

The Stars, whose franchise-record home unbeaten streak ended at 17 games (13-0-4), remained tied with Vancouver for fourth in the West. The Canucks played at Anaheim later Wednesday night.

Radek Dvorak scored the tying goal in the second period, and Ty Conklin had 29 saves for the streaking Oilers, 11-1-2-4 in their last 18 games.

Marc-Andre Bergeron’s goal from the right circle with 7:34 left made it 3-1.

Edmonton has one game left, Saturday at Vancouver. Dallas will play Friday at Minnesota and Sunday at home against Chicago.

Ron Tugnutt stopped 20 shots for the short-handed Stars.

Tugnutt, playing only his 10th game this season, continued to start while Marty Turco served the third of a four-game league suspension. Turco was punished for high-sticking Smyth at Edmonton on March 24.

Tugnutt has lost all three decisions during Turco’s suspension, two in overtime.

The Stars were also without centers Jason Arnott (groin) and Stu Barnes (upper body); right wings Rob DiMaio (foot), Scott Young (back) and Jere Lehtinen (back); and defensemen Sergei Zubov (leg) and Jon Klemm (groin).

Dallas had the NHL’s longest home unbeaten streak since Detroit’s 19-game run from Dec. 31, 2000, to April 7, 2001. The Stars’ previous home loss was Jan. 10 against Colorado.

Defenseman Teppo Numminen was back in the Stars lineup after missing five games because of a heart problem. Numminen was cleared to play by team doctors after a series of tests showed the dilated aorta that put his career in jeopardy isn’t considered life-threatening.

Dallas got the only goal of the first period at 16:36 when Pierre Turgeon skated to the net and converted Shayne Corson’s centering pass.

Edmonton tied it at 6:49 of the second period on Dvorak’s 15th goal.

Smyth gave the Oilers a 2-1 advantage at 11:51 of the second period with his 23rd goal off Mike York’s goal-mouth feed. Edmonton capitalized on a double minor for high-sticking whistled against Brenden Morrow.

Notes: The Oilers were winless in their previous 16 games in Dallas (0-15-1). … D Cory Cross (back) was among the Oilers’ scratches. … The Stars were 13-2-3-2 in their previous 20 games.

AP-ES-03-31-04 2248EST