As I settled in to watch the Detroit Red Wings play the first in a two-game, pivotal series against the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team directly in competition for a wild card spot, I was starting to feel pretty good when Cam Talbot was looking like 2002 Dominik Hasek. Being up 1-0 at the end of the first, I was thinking hell yeah- we’re gonna scratch and crawl our way to a regulation win, and pad our lead in the standings.

Flash forward to the end of the second period: 4-1 CBJ

Disgusted, I turned off the game. But, then I started to think- didn’t this reaction feel somewhat familiar?

Back in 2023, The Detroit Red Wings found themselves in a legitimate wild card race with the Ottawa Senators. Entering in a key back-to-back series on February 27th and 28th, the Red Wings lost to Ottawa 6-1 both times, getting bullied around by Tkachuck, with Steve Yzerman looking down from the pressbox like a disappointed father after a little league game after you got run out of the 1st inning with 45 pitches. Days later, Filip Hronek and Tyler Bertuzzi were moved at the deadline.

This whole thing is starting to feel a bit rehearsed for the Detroit Red Wings. Go into a pivotal series at the end of February, get blown out by a team competing for the same playoff positioning as you in a back-to-back, and then position yourself to a seller/do-nothing by the trade deadline. Obviously, this is a different coaching staff than 2023 and 2024, and there’s good reason to believe that the Toddfather will get the boys in position for a bounceback game on Saturday (even more reason to watch the Stadium Series game now), but I would be lying if I said I was brimming with confidence. Coupled with injuries at depth center positions, the hardest remaining schedule left in the NHL, and facing a red hot Capitals team in the next few weeks with an Ovechkin who is within arm’s reach of the all-time goal record, the Red Wings have an incredible mountain to climb if they want to make playoffs for the first time in damn near ten years. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t just slightly nervous that recent history is going to repeat itself.