The Detroit Red Wings stumbled a bit heading into the Olympic break, going 1-3-1 in their past five games. It’s not alarming because of the cushion they’ve built from a successful first two-thirds of the season.

“We put ourselves in a really good spot,” coach Todd McLellan said Wednesday following a 4-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth. “We’ve worked really hard as a team. Every player that’s been in the lineup has given us something on any given night. We’ve set ourselves up to have a good mini-training camp coming out of the break, and then we control what happens to our hockey club from there on. And really, that’s all you can ask for.”

While Dylan Larkin (United States), Lucas Raymond (Sweden) and Moritz Seider (Germany) head to Milano Cortina (Italy) for the Olympics, the rest of the team will be off until Feb. 17, when clubs are permitted to resume practicing. The Red Wings have a three-game trip out of the break starting Feb. 26 at Ottawa.

The Red Wings have faltered down the stretch a couple of times in the past few seasons to take anything for granted. But they’re in good shape in the playoff chase with 24 games remaining. At 33-19-6 (72 points), they’re third in the Atlantic Division in points percentage (.621) and have a seven-point lead over Columbus, the first team outside of the postseason picture (the Blue Jackets have two games in hand).

“Just an unbelievable ride here,” Larkin told media in Utah after the game. “It’s been a lot of fun and the commitment and the team chemistry, I’ve had probably the most fun I’ve had in my career playing with these guys, and you’re not going to win them all, but we showed to ourselves that through adversity we can stick together. And I think it’s brought our team together and I think we can beat anyone.

“I wish everyone a great break and come back refreshed for a big push.”

The Red Wings expect to have top-pair defenseman Simon Edvinsson back from his lower-body injury immediately after the break. He’s missed the past seven games and 10 overall. Detroit is 3-5-2 without him.

The Olympic break trade freeze that went into effect on Wednesday will be lifted at midnight on Feb. 23. The trade deadline is March 6, and the Red Wings likely will be buyers, needing a second-pair defenseman and a forward with offensive ability.

They have interest in St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk and Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri, among others.

Other potential trade targets include forwards Robert Thomas (St. Louis), Vincent Trocheck (Rangers), Elias Pettersson (Vancouver), Ryan O’Reilly (Nashville) and Blake Coleman (Calgary), and defensemen Logan Stanley (Winnipeg), Luke Schenn (Winnipeg) and Dougie Hamilton (New Jersey).