The Detroit Red Wings\u2019 late-season roller coaster ride continues, and nobody is having any fun.<\/p>\n
Saturday was another steep drop, with the Red Wings losing a 4-1 game to the Eastern Conference\u2019s last-place New York Rangers. It was the type of game Detroit could not afford to lose, and the kind they have lost all too often over the last five weeks.<\/p>\n
Whether you watched or not, you can guess the nuts and bolts: not enough offense \u2014 and not enough of anything else, either \u2014 as Detroit lost any momentum gained from a victory in Philadelphia two days prior. That has been the trend for the Red Wings in so-called must-win games lately, especially following games where they have found ways to win.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve won consecutive games just once since January 22, when they first stepped on this late-season ride that has proven to feature far more downs than ups. In that sense, maybe it\u2019s more of a slide than a roller coaster.<\/p>\n
When a team loses five out of its last seven, and 16 out of 25 games at a crucial time of year, it usually spells doom. And in the end, it might for the Red Wings, who sure seem to be limping to the finish line both physically and mentally.<\/p>\n
But in this Eastern Conference wild-card race, where everyone was winning right up until they all started losing, Detroit remains in a tie for the final playoff spot after 76 games. The Ottawa Senators lost by an identical 4-1 score Saturday, keeping the cut line right where it was, at 88 points. The Columbus Blue Jackets will play their 77th game Saturday night, and could pull ahead in that race with a win \u2014 but that would still leave the rest of the field with a game in hand to make it right back up.<\/p>\n
That should be a fortunate state of affairs for the Red Wings. But it\u2019s been happening for more than a week now, and they continue to fail to take advantage of it. Detroit\u2019s late-season story has been defined by missed opportunities \u2014 both in terms of the beatable opponents the Red Wings have lost to (none worse than the Rangers) and inside of games too, as Detroit carries a league-worst 7.3 shooting percentage at five-on-five since February 1.<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t learn that on Saturday. It\u2019s been slowly but surely revealing itself over the final third of the season, and now it\u2019s damn near irrefutable. The Red Wings have a problem here, whether they get into the postseason or not.<\/p>\n
The injuries the Red Wings have suffered, and in many cases continue playing through, are obviously a part of what has happened over the last month. But take a closer look at the Saturday stat sheet. Dylan Larkin, Detroit\u2019s captain who is so visibly hobbled on the ice, led the team with seven shots on goal. David Perron, a bottom-six piece who himself came back early from injury after being acquired at the trade deadline, had five, including the team\u2019s lone goal. Only one other Red Wing (Marco Kasper, who played just 10 minutes) had more than two.<\/p>\n
Give a pass to Alex DeBrincat, who has carried Detroit offensively down the stretch, including in Philadelphia<\/a>, and perhaps to a couple of other forwards thought to be playing through pain. But the overarching question remains: where is the punch in the rest of this forward group? As of Saturday afternoon, the Red Wings\u2019 2.46 goals per game since January 23 ranks 31st in the league, ahead of only Chicago.<\/p>\n That speaks to a deeper roster construction problem, seven years into Steve Yzerman\u2019s general manager tenure. And if an injured captain fighting through pain to tie his season-high in shots doesn\u2019t spark enough pulse elsewhere on the bench, that seems to hint at a different kind of problem, too.<\/p>\n These are offseason questions, mind you, more for the month of May than for right now. But game by game, they\u2019re revealing themselves in real time. Whatever decisions the Red Wings make this summer, the rationale behind them will be heavily influenced by what\u2019s playing out in this all-important stretch of hockey.<\/p>\n And in fairness, that stretch is not over yet. The Red Wings could still get in the playoffs, avoiding taking the torch for the NHL\u2019s longest drought from the Buffalo Sabres, who punched their ticket with Detroit\u2019s loss Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n But spend a moment and consider: what would have to happen the rest of the way for management, ownership, or anyone else to \u201cunsee\u201d what has taken place since the Olympic break? Or even dating back to late January, when an injury to defenseman Simon Edvinsson sent the Red Wings skidding into the break.<\/p>\n Would a 6-0 regular-season finish do it? That would give the Red Wings 100 points. Is getting into the playoffs, by any means, enough to wash away the rest of it?<\/p>\n Perhaps it is as simple as getting in and snapping the drought. Certainly, there is some level of success that would do the trick. But right now, it\u2019s hard to imagine Detroit actually finding that level, after it has so thoroughly eluded the Red Wings for weeks now.<\/p>\n