Of late, everything that could go wrong for the Red Wings has, as the repeat of last year’s March struggles has all but extinguished the team’s chances of breaking out of the current playoff drought.
On ice, good team efforts haven’t always been rewarded with two points, and bad efforts are becoming too common for this time of year. You’ll win a handful of games every year without playing a full 60 minutes, but it feels like those happen more often in November or December, and not in late March when virtually every team on the schedule is playing for something.
And off the ice, every team around the Red Wings has seemingly gotten hot at the right moment. Not even a full week ago, Detroit had a chance to draw into a tie for the final Wild Card spot, had they managed to beat Washington. Today, they’re five points out of that position, with three teams in their way. Not to mention, Boston and Pittsburgh each sit one point back of Detroit, meaning the wrong set of results this week could see them fall as low as third-worst in the conference.
That certainly doesn’t feel like the fate this team deserves, especially with how it’s played under Todd McLellan, but puck don’t lie, I guess — it’s been tight all season and when you go cold at the wrong time, you can sink. I suppose the silver lining is that Detroit only played once since that Washington game, so the lost ground was more the games-in-hand other teams had going the wrong way for the Red Wings.
But I’m a serial optimist, so here goes: there’s never a bad time to rattle off a six- or seven-game win streak, right?! …do I find this likely to happen? Not really, but most important to me will be seeing how Detroit’s core battles down the stretch, how Marco Kasper continues to develop as a potential long-term second-line center option, how Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson evolve, and if any other kids can find some confidence down the stretch to take into a pivotal offseason.
Because the calvary’s coming, sooner or later. We’ll save Griffins analysis for another day, but Nate Danielson’s getting hot ahead of a likely playoff run, Amadeus Lombardi continues to be a dangerous offensive option night-in and night-out, both Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Axel Sandin-Pellikka are rumored to join Grand Rapids once their SHL season concludes, Emmitt Finnie has wrapped up his final junior season and is already en route to Grand Rapids… among several other options we could see AHL-bound in the next few weeks.
It’s certainly not exciting to be looking ahead in that way, with the playoff picture fading. But the reality of this roster is many of these players were signed with the idea that they’re temporary — just holding a spot while others develop.
But there are still games left to play, and a team full of players who, for the most part, have something to prove if they want to be part of the future of this team. And they’ll continue that process tonight with the Red Wings’ first-ever visit to Utah to play the Unnamed Team.
How to Watch
Time: 9:00 p.m. EDT
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Red Wings Projected Lineup
Rasmussen – Larkin – Raymond
DeBrincat – Kasper – Kane
Berggren – Compher – Tarasenko
Watson – Motte – Smith
Chiarot – Seider
Edvinsson – Petry
Johansson – Holl
Mrazek
Talbot
Hockey Club Projected Lineup
Keller – Cooley – Schmaltz
Carcone – Hayton – Guenther
Crouse – McBain – Doan
Kerfoot – Stenlund – Maccelli
Sergachev – Marino
Maatta – Durzi
Cole – Kesselring
Vejmelka
Stauber
