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ST. LOUIS -- Backup goalie Petr Mrazek kept the injury-riddled St. Louis Blues down heading into the playoffs with his second career shutout in a 3-0 victory for the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. The Blues had been in contention for the No. 1 overall seed but lost their last six and missed a chance at taking the Central Division with Colorado clinching on a tiebreaker before playing at Anaheim Sunday night. Minus three of their top five scorers, their top faceoff man and two top defencemen, they were shut out for the second straight game and third time during the slump. Justin Abdelkader scored twice, Riley Sheahan added a goal and Pavel Datsyuk had two assists for the Red Wings, who are locked into the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and will play Boston. The Blues set a franchise record with 52 wins but are the third seed in the Western Conference entering a first-round series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks. Theyre scuffling to say the least with the franchises longest losing streak since a seven-game skid from Dec. 26, 2009 to Jan. 7, 2010, and theyve mustered five goals the last six games. The Red Wings, who rested Jimmy Howard, Daniel Alfredsson and Johan Franzen, were 3-1 against Boston. The Blues were 3-2 against Chicago. Mrazek is 2-4 this season and has three career victories, one of them in his NHL debut in St. Louis on Feb. 7, 2013. He bested the Blues Ryan Miller, who has lost his last five decisions. T.J. Oshie (head), David Backes (foot) and Alex Pietrangelo (undisclosed) led a long list of scratches for the Blues. Oshie has 60 points, Backes 57 and Pietrangelo 51. The Red Wings were outshot 7-4 in the first period, but took the lead on Abdelkaders deflection at 13:30. Near the midpoint of the period, an apparent goal by Tomas Tatar was waved off by a goaltender interference on Joakim Andersson, who slashed Millers stick seconds earlier. Sheahan scored for the third straight game on the counter-attack with his ninth overall making it 2-0 at 16:19 of the second and Abdelkader made it 3-0 with another deflection in the third. Notes: Blues D Jay Bouwmeester played in his 717th consecutive game -- the longest streak in major pro sports -- and was the only St. Louis player to dress every game. ... Miller is 2-9-2 against Detroit. ... The Red Wings are preparing for their 23rd consecutive playoff appearance. . De La Rosa pitched six strong innings to win his sixth consecutive decision, Todd Helton homered and the Colorado Rockies snapped the Los Angeles Dodgers six-game winning streak with a 7-5 victory on Wednesday night. .Michael Briscoe is serving a life sentence for sexual assault, kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte in 2005. http://www.hockeysenatorsonline.us/. -- Isaiah Pead took a stutter step forward, then raced to the left sideline and travelled 60 yards up the field before finally getting tripped up by a leg tackle. . With a win tonight, Buehrle will match Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka for the most wins in the majors with 11. Buehrle is 10-4 with a 2.32 earned run average, but has lost his last three starts, including a 7-3 setback at Yankee Stadium last Wednesday. . City has reached new heights under manager Manuel Pellegrini as they transition from big spending/immediate impact to perennial contender. Yaya Toures seeming discontent Tuesday may complicate that, as does the little issue of Financial Fair Play.Fortress Old Trafford proved a happy hunting ground for England once more as they demolished Pakistan by 330 runs to level the four-match series. We already knew England would come back hard after losing at Lords, so what did we learn in Manchester?Bumbles Brassica Hes a man of the people, is Bumble, but that didnt stop Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton giving David Lloyd a right good ribbing for his attire and, er, holiday home when they stumbled across a rather glowing newspaper article on the lad. Nasser and Atherton give Lord Bumble a good ribbing Ill be honest, Ive never seen Bumble in a three-piece tweed suit either but Im pretty sure he wears the label of a legendary commentator well. The carefully ordered homestead pictured in the newspaper photograph was swiftly undermined by the chaos Bumble brought to the third man seat as he struggled to deal with a rogue cable, holding it aloft for all to see. David Lloyd offers some gardening tips for the summer His knowledge of Brassica is of the highest order, however, as he demonstrated during our Saturday Debate. If you want a few tips for your allotment, Bumbles still your man…How to nullify YasirEngland fought back like cornered Lions - the gulf between the teams quite staggering in terms of runs scored for wickets lost (762-9 plays 432-20). Most tellingly, Alastair Cook and Joe Root neutralised the leading Test bowler in the world - Yasir Shah returning 1-266 after having England in all sorts at HQ to grab 10-for. Shane Warne was in The Zone to look back at Yasir Shahs display True, there wasnt much in the pitch for the leggie on day one but with expectation high he bowled a fraction too quick, enabling Englands batsmen to pick off his flatter trajectory on the back foot. Without a total on the board behind him - this was the first time England have batted first against Yasir in a Test - the spinner lost patience surprisingly quickly and well find out in the two-day friendly against Worcestershire at the end of the week if a fourth morning pep talk from Shane Warne perks him up.Roots a quick learnerPoor shot selection was one of the criticisms levelled against Englands batters after the Lords loss and while James Vince, caught on the drive again, didnt learn from previous mistakes Root did - adapting his game to astonishing effect to become the first Englishman to score a Test double century at Old Trafford since Ken Barrington in 1964. Watch the best bits from Joe Roots double century Top of the improvement list was the way he eliminated risk, even if that meant scoring at a slower rate on day one. The slog-sweep was kept firmly in the locker in favour of playing much straighter - in particular against Yasir - yet England still ticked over at a decent Test match tempo and Roots reward was a first hundred since Johannesburg in January, the frustration of failing to turn three subsequent fifties into three figures eased if not erased.dddddddddddd Wardy catches up with Joe after his career-best 254 The ruthlessness of his second innings strokeplay had Pakistan on the run to an almost embarrassing extent and when added to five catches and a bonus wicket, made it a pretty perfect Test.Follow-on follow-upThere was a lot of time left in the game and we didnt have a tee-time on the fifth day at 10 oclock, quipped a cheeky Trevor Bayliss, answering yet another question on why England chose not to enforce the follow-on despite securing a 391-run first-innings cushion. The follow-on - or lack of it - stirred plenty of debate In the final analysis, it mattered not a jot that England batted again - indeed it allowed Cook and Root to fill their boots to the brim. Beefy observed, there are many ways to skin a cat and yet it escaped no-ones attention that Mickey Arthur was a rare voice of support for the decision, which in itself should say something. England assistant coach Paul Farbrace explains the decision Paul Farbrace stated England simply wanted to bat while the wicket was still good but you cant help feel that the impact a high-intensity schedule has on seam bowlers played its part in the decision, particularly given the hardness of the Old Trafford pitch, with injuries the last thing on Englands wish-list…Choked for Stokes…but an injury there was nonetheless, Ben Stokes sustaining a calf strain while bowling on the fourth afternoon. You have to feel for the lad, having just returned from knee surgery, which itself came on top of that shoulder problem sustained over the winter when he dived and did himself a mischief. With Chris Woakes in such prime form with the ball and having to bat all the way down at nine (when not required to be one of the most highly-qualified night-watchman in English Test history), its a setback England can perhaps afford but that doesnt make it any less jarring. Watch the moment Stokes sustained his calf injury The dressing room door must still be vibrating after feeling the force of Stokes dismay. Maybe, though, just maybe should Stokes be ruled out for the next Test this is a chance for England to mix things up a little bit and if Adil Rashid is still to be banished to the sidelines, what price an eagerly-awaited return for that Ashes-winner Mark Wood?Watch day one of the third Test between England and Pakistan live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Wednesday, August 3. Also See: England level series Scorecard Cook praises character Setback for Stokes ' ' '