There are plenty of appropriate adjectives that could be applied to the performance of the Detroit Red Wings in Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Certainly, some of those words wouldn’t be appropriate for a family publication such as this.

However, there’s one descriptive that is both appropriate and accurate – inexplicable.

Considering the circumstances, that’s exactly what type of effort the Red Wings turned in on Saturday.

“I don’t think we were good today by any means,” Detroit forward Alex DeBrincat said.

The final scoreline is somewhat deceptive. The Flyers led 4-0 with just over six minutes to play. With the goalie pulled, the Red Wings netted three times before the Flyers were able to shoot the puck into the vacated Detroit cage to seal the victory.

The rally might’ve made the outcome more palatable from a Detroit point of view, but it was fool’s gold.

“We’re not getting tricked either by the three goals at the end of the night,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “That made it close.

“It was a disappointing response after a big win for us in Buffalo (on Friday).”

Consistency Continues To Elude Red Wings

With a win, Detroit would’ve moved back into the second wildcard playoff position in the NHL’s Eastern Conference. Instead, they remain a point out of the postseason.

Fun Fact: Lucas Raymond became the third #RedWings player in the past 20 years to record three-straight 70-point seasons!

The others: Pavel Datsyuk & Henrik Zetterberg. pic.twitter.com/afmNrsE19x

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 28, 2026

“We know what’s at stake, what we need to do, but it’s about coming out there and doing it,” Detroit forward Lucas Raymond said.

Except they didn’t do it.

Just 4:07 into the game, Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider turned the puck over to Philly’s Trevor Zegras. He fed a breakaway pass to Owen Tippett, who slipped the puck through the five-hole of Detroit goalie John Gibson to open the scoring.

“Disappointed in that performance,” McLellan said. “I think there’s more in a lot of guys. You know, I think some guys came to compete, but not think at all. 

“The stuff we did is training camp material, and here we are at game 72, so I’m disappointed.”

Tippett wound up scoring three of the goals that fashioned Philly’s 4-0 lead. Anyone will tell you how difficult it is to win the match when you surrender three Owen goals.

“It’s frustrating, it’s unacceptable, and we gotta be better,” DeBrincat said.

“Nine games left,” Raymond said. “We have to be desperate or, you know, we’re going to be out of it.”