{"id":551456,"date":"2026-04-13T00:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T00:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/551456\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T00:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T00:36:24","slug":"lightning-seek-strong-home-finish-starting-vs-eliminated-red-wings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/551456\/","title":{"rendered":"Lightning Seek Strong Home Finish, Starting vs. Eliminated Red Wings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AThe Lightning and Red Wings meet for the final time this season, with Tampa Bay still fighting for home-ice advantage in the playoffs as Detroit’s postseason hopes have come to an end.Chicago Today<\/p>\n

The Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning meet for the final time this regular season, but the game will have very different implications for the two Atlantic Division foes. The Lightning (49-25-6, 104 points) are battling for home-ice advantage in the playoffs, while the Red Wings (41-30-9, 91 points) have been eliminated from postseason contention.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The Lightning are in a tight race for the Atlantic Division title and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Red Wings have missed the playoffs for the 10th straight season, a disappointing end to what was otherwise a solid season for the team.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

The Lightning are coming off a 1-3-0 road trip but managed to end it on a high note with a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday. Defenseman Emil Lilleberg scored the game-winner with 95 seconds left. The Red Wings were eliminated from playoff contention with a 5-3 home loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, as Jesper Bratt broke a 3-3 tie late in the game.<\/p>\n

The Lightning and Red Wings meet for the final time this regular season on Monday, April 14, 2026.The Lightning host the New York Rangers on Wednesday, April 16, 2026.The Red Wings close the season at the Florida Panthers on Wednesday, April 16, 2026.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Jon Cooper<\/p>\n

Head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.<\/p>\n

Brandon Hagel<\/p>\n

36-goal scorer for the Tampa Bay Lightning.<\/p>\n

Dylan Larkin<\/p>\n

Captain of the Detroit Red Wings, who missed seven games in March due to injury.<\/p>\n

Todd McLellan<\/p>\n

Head coach of the Detroit Red Wings.<\/p>\n

Alex DeBrincat<\/p>\n

Leads the Detroit Red Wings in goals (40) and points (83).<\/p>\n

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\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re a really emotional team, and sometimes it’s tough to hold onto that for 82 games, especially what we’ve done this year. But at the end of the day, I thought once our emotion got into it, it seemed like we got something going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Brandon Hagel, 36-goal scorer, Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand where we’re slotted in here and probably need some help, but we do have a chance to get home ice. So there’s still something to play for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Cooper, Head coach, Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a lot of great things and put ourselves in a really good position. But when it gets tight, we come up short. We talked about it a lot this season and it happened again. I’m as down as I could be right now. \u2026 Two guys jump by me, and it is in our net.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dylan Larkin, Captain, Detroit Red Wings<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is hard. It doesn’t matter if you miss by five points or 20 points, but we were playing well enough until the last month or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Todd McLellan, Head coach, Detroit Red Wings<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

The Lightning will host the New York Rangers on Wednesday, April 16, 2026, in their final regular-season game, while the Red Wings will close the season at the Florida Panthers on the same day.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

The Lightning’s focus is on securing home-ice advantage in the playoffs, while the Red Wings’ disappointing season has come to an end, missing the postseason for the 10th straight year. This game will have very different implications for the two teams as they wrap up their regular-season schedules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a The Lightning and Red Wings meet for the final time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5101],"tags":[599,93,5137,5,4,3358,5138],"class_list":{"0":"post-551456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-red-wings","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-red-wings","10":"tag-detroitredwings","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-red-wings","14":"tag-redwings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116394603684688176","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}