Detroit Red Wings' NHL playoff pursuit: Here's the path to bust streak with 15 games left
The Detroit Red Wings have made it hard on themselves, erasing the leeway they built with a strong January and February — but they still are in position to end their playoff drought.
Their Saturday afternoon victory over the Buffalo Sabres bumped them back into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, after a seven-game losing streak left them outside the picture.
"One win, and we’re above that line again," coach Derek Lalonde said. "It’s going to be about our play and if we can continue to be a little more organized with our d-side, a little more committed to keeping it out of our net, we will give ourselves a chance."
How a team that looked so good two weeks ago in winning six straight (and hanging eight goals on Washington at LCA) suddenly couldn't win for seven straight games is a problem the organization would do well to examine.
It can't just be the absence of Dylan Larkin, because if it is, then the rebuild is not in as good shape as it appeared. The captain is projected to return over the coming week from a lower-body injury suffered March 2, just in time to push the Wings toward what would be their first playoffs since 2016.
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When Larkin last played, the Wings (34-26-6) were in the first wild-card spot. On Feb. 27, when they won their sixth straight, they were three points up on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second wild-card berth, and only two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Now they're in a tight battle to secure a foothold, with the New York Islanders (73 points) just one point behind, with a game in hand. The Capitals, Sabres, New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins keep finding ways to stay in it, too.
Here is a look at the Wings' chances of playing past their April 16 regular-season finale.
Next up
The Wings play the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Sunday, and then host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. The Penguins traded one of their best players (Jake Guentzel) at the deadline, and while they are still hanging on in the playoff race, they're a team ripe to pick for two points. The Blue Jackets are wrapping up another futile season — following the implosion of their hiring of former Wings coach Mike Babcock, they fired their GM weeks before the trade deadline — and are sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, so that's another opponent the Wings should be able to best. Win those two, and it lessens some of the stress for Thursday's game, which features the Islanders at LCA. That's the team that ran up a six-game winning streak while the Wings were losing to the likes of the Arizona Coyotes twice in one week.
On the road again
The Wings wrap up the coming week's schedule with a Saturday visit to Nashville, where the Predators are in good position to at least secure one of the West's wild cards. The Wings come home for a few days but then head back on the road for what may be the biggest test of their resilience. The Capitals (March 26) aren't likely to make the playoffs, but they haven't gone away, either, as Alex Ovechkin continues his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's NHL goals record (894). The Carolina Hurricanes (March 28) are chasing the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division and picked up Guentzel for the stretch run.
Then there's the Florida Panthers (March 30), who entered Saturday atop the Atlantic and manhandled the Wings in that March 2 game at Little Caesars Arena. April 1 has the Wings visit the Lightning — that's a huge game given the race for the wild-card spots. The Wings cannot afford to regress again like they did on their Colorado-Arizona-Vegas-Buffalo trip, when they came home without a point in four tries.
Coming home
The last home stand of the season offers the Rangers on April 5, the Sabres on April 7, and the Capitals on April 9. The Rangers could well be in a battle for first place in the conference at that point; even if they're not, they're a tough opponent that already has beaten the Wings twice this season. The Sabres, as evidenced by Tuesday's victory in Buffalo and much of Saturday's game in Detroit, always play the Wings tough. The Capitals game is one the Wings will need to win — by then, Washington projects to be out of the race.
Wrapping it up
The Wings head back to Pittsburgh (April 11) and then to Toronto (April 13), and finish up with a home-and-home against the Montreal Canadiens (April 15 at LCA, April 16 at Bell Centre). That should be six points there — and maybe more, because by then, the Leafs are likely to be locked into third in the Atlantic.
Last year, the Panthers squeaked into the playoffs as the second wild card with just 92 points. That may be all it takes again this season, requiring the Wings to bank 18 points — a little more than half the 30 that are available. Their seven-game debacle can't be undone, but their position remains in their control.
"As bad as that all went, we dictate what is going to happen," Christian Fischer said. "If we go on a good run here and put together a couple wins, we know how that is going to work. These next three, four weeks, we control our own destiny. What else do you want? We are in a playoff hunt, that is why we play hockey."
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings NHL playoff pursuit: Here's the path with 15 to play
