For the second time in less than a week, the Detroit Red Wings snoozed through much of a vital game.
The Philadelpha Flyers – who the Wings play twice more in their final nine games – pushed around the home team through two-plus periods on Saturday, March 28 at Little Caesars Arena. The Wings made it interesting – but not enough to overcome how long it took them to get going, and they came out on the short end of a 5-3 final.
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The loss was the third in regulation in the last four games for the Wings (39-26-8, 86 points). The Flyers are two points behind.
A furious spurt saw the Wings with about six minutes to play rack up goals from Mason Appleton (his first in 32 games), Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond inside three minutes, but Sean Couturier’s empty-net goal with two minutes and change to play doused the Wings’ hopes of rallying.
The loss came four days after a subpar effort left the Wings grumbling about a loss to the Ottawa Senators, another team within striking distance of a wild card. It also came a day after the Wings showed how much better they can play after going into Buffalo and defeating the Atlantic Division-leading Sabres.
Detroit Red Wings center Mason Appleton (22) skates with the puck defended by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings playoff picture
Again the Wings failed to take advantage on a day they received a modicum of help, as both the Senators (86 points, 9 games left) and Columbus Blue Jackets (87 points, 9 games left, second wild-card berth) lost. On the flip side, victories were celebrated by the Boston Bruins (90 points, 9 games left, first wild-card berth) and the New York Islanders (89 points, 8 games left). The Montreal Canadiens (92 points, 10 games left) also won to further securing their positioning inside the top three in the Atlantic.
John Gibson strings another tune
John Gibson started his 11th straight game and, for the first time this season, started in back-to-back games, having made 28 saves in Friday’s 5-2 victory at the Burfalo Sabres. Cam Talbot, dealing with an undisclosed injury that flared up Thursday, at least was able to back him up. Minor-league call-up Michal Postava had to do that in Buffalo.
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After the Flyers scored their fourth goal, at 7:19 of the third period, the Wings took the opportunity to get Talbot some playing time; he’d only played 20 minutes in relief the previous 10 games.
The Wings also called up forward Carter Mazur and inserted him into the lineup in the place of veteran James van Riemsdyk.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) skates with the puck in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) skates with the puck in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Philadelphia Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov (39) skates with the puck chased by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Justin Faulk (72) in the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson (36) makes a save in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings left wing Lucas Raymond (23) skates with the puck defended by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (55) and Detroit Red Wings left wing J.T. Compher (37) fight for position in front of goaltender Dan Vladar (80) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson (36) makes a save in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) makes a save in front of Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) takes a shot on Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings center Mason Appleton (22) skates with the puck defended by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) takes a shot on Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings left wing David Perron (57) and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) fight for position in front of goaltender Dan Vladar (80) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) gets a new skate blade in the second period against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) skates with the puck in the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) gets set to face off in the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) skates with the puck in the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
So much for starting a trend
One night after the Wings scored the first goal for the first time in eight games, they were right back to playing from behind. The downfall came when Moritz Seider committed a neutral zone turnover and Trevor Zegras got the puck to Owen Tippett, who raced in on Gibson and beat him five-hole, at 4:07 of the first period.
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First to three
The Wings went on a power play at 7:12 of the second period but generated only one shot on Dan Vladar. That made it possible for the Flyers to double their lead at 12:22, when Tippett took a feed from Denver Barkey and used SImon Edvinsson as a screen to score on Gibson, again going five hole. The Flyers moved ahead by three goals at 16:08 when Noah Cates scored during a power play – and that from a team that came into the game with an NHL-worst power play at 14.5%.
Moritz Seider put the puck in Philly’s net during a Detroit power play with 1:16 to play, but the Flyers successfully challenged DeBrincat was offside. Christian Dvorak was left wide open to score early in the third period, but this time the Wings successfully challenged offside.
Tippett finished off the hat trick with a power-play tally 7:19 into the third.
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Next up for the Red Wings
There’s a two-day break, the last of the season for the Wings, before they play again Tuesday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit) at the Pittsburgh Penguins, the start of a trip that also has the Wings in Philadelphia and playing the Rangers in New York in a Saturday matinee. Then there’s a four-game homestand before a two-game trip to Florida to finish the season.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings flop at home against Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3