Five games left. It’s felt like it would take a miracle for a while, but it’s tough to get up for the remainder of the schedule after Tuesday’s loss has all but crushed Detroit’s playoff hopes.
If you missed it, the Red Wings are effectively yet not mathematically eliminated from the postseason. They would need to win at least four of their last five games (over exclusively playoff teams) and hope that Montreal loses out, or win all five games in regulation and hope Montreal takes two-or-fewer points in order to swing the tiebreaker… all while hoping that none of the three teams they are currently tied with outperforms them in the same stretch.
It’s a lotta hope. At this point, fans are resigned to the reality that we’ll be preparing for end-of-season pressers at this time next week. It’s a bummer, knowing that any more life at the beginning of the season or righting the ship quicker during recent losing streaks would see them in a much more favorable standing.
But the games are still to be played, and the bigger picture is still at stake. I don’t think the calls for anyone’s job are anything more than just noise from radio hosts who don’t pay attention and occasionally look up to see what’s going on when they sense an opportunity to generate social media clicks.
We’ll write more on the future in the coming months, but getting this close and not making it two seasons in a row definitely won’t sit well both in the dressing room and management offices. Changes will surely come, and more kids are on the way.
I still expect this team will come out with something to play for, and I’m especially hoping the rookies can each go out on a high note. While losses could help drop Detroit behind a handful of teams for draft lottery odds, I’m more interested in the existing young players gaining confidence to bring into next season than I am in ping-pong balls.
No lineup changes are expected for the Red Wings, though Austin Watson’s emergency recall indicates at least one player is questionable. As much as I’d like to see someone like Nate Danielson, Amadeus Lombardi or William Wallinder to get a few games, the Griffins have a lot to play in playoff seeding. Maybe timing will line up next week, but it would still introduce some distraction and potentially interrupt the rhythm for what will hopefully be a long spring in the AHL. The Panthers have been resting their star players of late, but will probably ice a stronger lineup than they did over the weekend.
How to Watch
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Red Wings Projected Lineup
DeBrincat – Larkin – Kane
Soderblom – Kasper – Raymond
Berggren – Compher – Tarasenko
Rasmussen – Motte – Smith
Chiarot – Seider
Edvinsson – Petry
Johansson – Holl
Talbot
Lyon
Panthers Projected Lineup
Samoskevich – Barkov – Reinhart
Luostarinen – Lundell – Marchand
Boqvist – Sturm – Rodrigues
Greer – Nosek – Gadjovich
Mikkola – Jones
Forsling – Schmidt
Megna – Balinskis
Bobrovsky
Vanecek
