Red Wings Playoff Hopes on Life Support
For what seems like the last three years, a regular season matchup against Ottawa, post-All Star break, feels like a real measuring stick moment for the Wings and their playoff hopes. And every year, Detroit gets bullied on the puck, looks flat, and performs like an overall inferior team.
Last night was not one of those nights.
The Red Wings outshot Ottawa by a near 2:1 ratio, highlighted by what felt like 40 shots in the second period. They had hustle, heart, and looked like the dominant team overall. Even Todd McLellan was quoted with saying: “there’s no complaints about effort or, really, execution”, and when your coach is a noted red-ass, this is pretty high praise. The result? A 2-1 Ottawa victory, and a career night from Ullmark. To rub salt in the wound? A disallowed goal as time expired from Lucas Raymond. Even more salt in the wound? A David Perron goal in the 1st period to give Ottawa the lead. EVEN MORE salt in the wound? A goal from Dylan Cozens, the player the Red Wings were heavily rumored to pursue prior to the trade deadline.
With that loss, Detroit is now 4 points out of a wild card spot. I get that, technically, this is still well within the mix, and if history has shown us anything, it’s that fringey playoff teams are susceptible to collapse down the stretch. But the vibes are at an all-time low and a six game losing streak in the most crucial stretch of your season is not where you want to be. The lack of movement at the deadline basically said to the team that it’s on them, and if there’s any hope of making the playoffs, it’s to be found in young guys really pitching in for the playoff push- guys like Edvinsson, Kasper, Soderblom, et. al. But the Red Wings need to find a win. I don’t care how poor they look on the ice at this point; there’s no moral victories to be found in fantastic performances that result in losses. Playoff teams find a way to win, and if the Wings want to find themselves playing meaningful hockey in April, they need to scrape together a win- whatever it takes, regardless of how it looks.
