Fortunately for Detroit, Saturday night produced some favorable results on the out-of-town scoreboard, as the Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders also all suffered regulation losses while the Philadelphia Flyers were idle. As a result, the Red Wings still find themselves in a four-way tie in points with those previously listed clubs for the Eastern Conference’s second Wild-Card spot.
“If we’re sitting here, and every other team won [on Saturday night], the task is just tougher,” McLellan said. “But, somebody has to step up. Doing the pre-scout for Minnesota and Ottawa…their game looked a lot like ours did against the Rangers, where Ottawa didn’t step up either. There’s other teams around us. Time is running out on everybody. Somebody’s going to get a spark and get hot over the next 10 days.”
Lucas Raymond, like his teammates, believes they can rise to the occasion during this likely season-defining four-game homestand.
“We’ve got a great opportunity here,” Raymond said. “We’ve got these games left here to really do something special with this team. So, the faith is high in here. We have a lot of faith in ourselves and our team. It’s just about going out there and getting it done.”
The Wild were also in action on Saturday afternoon, earning a 4-1 win against the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. They clinched a 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs berth on Friday and are currently in third place in the Western Conference’s top-heavy Central Division.