Folks, we did it.
We’re Andy Dufresne at the end of The Shawshank Redemption. We’ve tunnelled out, and we’re finally free. We may not look or smell right for a while, but we’re out. It was hell. But we’re innocent. (Sorry for any spoilers of a 32-year-old film.)
It’s April.
Believe it or not, this was actually the best March the Red Wings have had in the last six years (and the year prior was when COVID hit so… it’s the best in the last seven years):
2020-21: 5-7-1 (11 pts.)
2021-22: 3-8-3 (9 pts.)
2022-23: 5-9-1 (11 pts.)
2023-24: 3-9-2 (8 pts.)
2024-25: 4-10-0 (8 pts.)
2025-26: 5-7-2 (12 pts.)
I guess… the curse is lifted? Has to be, right? Any numerologists want to weigh in on the significance of 12? It seems like a good, sturdy number. Much more than eight. Sid Abel. A lot going for 12. Not many numbers get their own nickname. “Dozen.” Pretty cool.
Yes, this is procrastination in written form, because I don’t know how to start a Game Day post like this, eerily similar to the others in the last month, which echoed last year’s, which rhymed with the year before. So we’ll start with the reality:
A win tonight could put the Red Wings back into a playoff spot. There are other teams in action, but simply put, they are two points out, with one game in hand, and they hold the tiebreaker over the team currently residing in the second Wild Card (Columbus). If you’d told fans at the beginning of the season that this was the picture on April 2, many would have taken it.
It’s the particulars of journey, though, that raise red flags. Detroit’s coming off a month of rocky performances, and in particular, has essentially been in this exact boat for the last 10 days, and has come out concerningly flat in three of the last four games. The disconnect between the stakes and the perceived effort level is… shocking. So while I’m normally a grass-is-greener, the-numbers-don’t-lie guy, I had no issue with the many fans, here and spread across sports media, who have essentially thrown in the towel.
But what if? Say the Red Wings come out firing, put forth an effort that is rewarded with a convincing win, and get the right combination of out-of-town luck where they actually have their hands back on the wheel of this out-of-control bus (that’s practically a Speed reference, what a year for movies in ’94). That’s why you play the games.
As bad as things feel at the moment, all it takes is a couple of breaks to ease the tension. Fans calm down, the team breathes a sigh of relief, the spiralling stops. And that’s not to say you’re hoping for luck, because as we know, hope is not a strategy. Sometimes you earn your luck, and work for the right break at the right time. If the team wants it enough… it’s there for the taking.
How to Watch
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Extra
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Red Wings Projected Lineup
Finnie – Larkin – Raymond
DeBrincat – Copp – Kane
Perron – Compher – Mazur
van Riemsdyk – Kasper – Appleton
Edvinsson – Seider
Chiarot – Faulk
Johansson – Bernard-Docker
Gibson
Talbot
No practice Wednesday, so lines could be wildly jumbled, as they were throughout the Pittsburgh game.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Grundstrom – Zegras – Tippett
Konecny – Dvorak – Martone
Barkey – Cates – Michkov
Couturier – Glendening – Hathaway
Sanheim – Ristolainen
York – Drysdale
Seeler – Andrae
Vladar
Ersson
Rooting Guide: Buffalo over Ottawa, Tampa over Pittsburgh, Florida over Boston, NY Rangers over Montreal, Carolina over Columbus, New Jersey over Washington.
