DETROIT — Todd McLellan mentioned this Detroit Red Wings staff would write its personal story within the month of March. That it was another month in a season, and that there have been new faces within the locker room from those that went via late-season collapses prior to now three seasons. And in equity, the month’s not over but.
But up to this level, the story positive has been acquainted.
On Tuesday, that was true proper down to the opponent, because the Ottawa Senators got here into Little Caesars Arena with out their two greatest defensemen and skated to a 3-2 regulation win, leapfrogging the Red Wings — who entered the month fifth within the Eastern Conference — and dropping Detroit down to tenth within the East with 11 video games remaining.
“Obviously very, very disappointing outcome tonight,” defenseman Moritz Seider mentioned afterward. “You have the chances, you play good hockey, but then simple mistakes end up in the back of the net. And that’s frustrating, because you’re playing against an opponent (and) you just opened the door for them. Kind of hard right now, but I think we have plenty of games left, great challenge in front of us, great opportunities, and got to make the most out of it.”
There continues to be time for the Red Wings to discover their footing. They’re getting key gamers again from damage, with captain Dylan Larkin making his return to the lineup towards the Senators Tuesday and scoring on the facility play. They additionally acquired some assistance on the out-of-town scoreboard, with the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins all additionally falling in regulation. In that sense, their path didn’t truly change an excessive amount of, regardless of the frustration.
But after struggling consecutive regulation losses, at house, to groups in that very same race — together with letting Ottawa again into it — what occurs elsewhere has to be secondary. It’s all about what the Red Wings are doing. And on Tuesday, the reply was … not sufficient.
“We were a little bit slower, little bit sluggish for whatever reason,” McLellan mentioned. “We put pucks into areas that we wanted to, but we didn’t win those areas after. So all of the sudden, we’re coming out of the end. Got some pucks to the net, but we didn’t get to the screen or the tip-in or deflection areas — which I thought we did against Boston, but we didn’t do that tonight against Ottawa.”
Entering the night time, the Red Wings had gained all three earlier conferences towards the Senators — a staff that has haunted them late in current seasons, dealing them some of their hardest blows in failed playoff races in 2025 and, extra infamously, 2023.
After an additional time win in Ottawa lower than one month in the past, it regarded like this Detroit staff is likely to be prepared to change that. In a recreation with essential playoff stakes, although, it was as soon as once more the Senators discovering a means to win, whereas the Red Wings had been left as soon as once more to choose up the items and discover a response.
All 12 months, McLellan has emphasised psychological toughness and resilience. For probably the most half, his staff has responded. But the truest check is occurring proper now, with the fallout from this newest loss pushing the Red Wings down the standings. While they continue to be only one level behind the second wild-card, they now have another staff standing between them and their hopes of snapping their nine-year playoff drought.
“It’s like, what are we going to do?” Larkin mentioned. “The room is mad. The guys are mad. That was a big game for our hockey team. Unfortunate how well we played against those guys all year, and then this one tonight, it kind of wipes away our record against those guys, because that was a big game. But we’re going into Buffalo on Friday night, so we have to pick ourselves back up, and that’s mental toughness. … We’ve got to pick each other up and find a way through the next 11.”
The Red Wings did present a measure of that throughout the recreation on Tuesday, combating again from a 3-0 deficit to give themselves an opportunity late. They outshot Ottawa 34-21.
Dylan Larkin scored in his return to the Detroit lineup after an damage. (Jaime Crawford / Getty Images)
But even with that mentioned, this was a special recreation than their weekend loss to Boston, when the Red Wings performed properly sufficient to win just for Jeremy Swayman to stymie them. This time, the Red Wings’ vitality regarded off early and appeared to dip additional when an Alex DeBrincat power-play objective was overturned by a problem for offside. A Brady Tkachuk power-play objective for the Senators quickly after swung the early momentum in Ottawa’s favor.
The actual let-down, although, got here after the Senators’ second objective by rookie defenseman Carter Yakemchuk — which was adopted quickly after by a 3rd that put the Red Wings at three-goal deficit halfway via the sport. Two objectives towards in brief succession turned a manageable scenario into an extended shot.
Detroit didn’t roll over, with Dominik Shine scoring on a redirect lower than 4 minutes later, however the gap proved too deep. Larkin scored his power-play objective early within the third, with greater than quarter-hour remaining, however the Red Wings couldn’t discover a third to pressure additional time.
The loss itself is the largest downside, of course, as Detroit — which sits at 84 factors — might very properly want 98, or extra, to get into the postseason in a extremely aggressive discipline. But it’s the circumstances that make this one such a missed opportunity.
The Senators got here in to Little Caesars Arena on the second night time of a back-to-back and debuted two rookies on the blue line as a result of they had been lacking each Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot, their two most relied-upon defensemen. That’s a scenario the Red Wings wanted to have the option to take benefit of. And they didn’t.
“We got to be honest with ourselves, that’s a very winnable game,” Seider mentioned. “And if we’re not upset with ourselves, we’re doing something wrong. And I think we’ve just got to regroup, analyze, be honest with each other. Tell each other the truth. And then come ready to go tomorrow, to get a little bit better, because the next game is right around the corner and we need two points.”
The Sabres staff Detroit will face on Friday has been among the many hottest within the league for months now. They have a deep, proficient younger blue line, a dynamic prime scorer in Tage Thompson and so they’re getting sturdy goaltending, too. In different phrases, they’re removed from a great matchup for a staff attempting to choose itself again up.
By losing a first-rate opportunity on Tuesday, although, the Red Wings have sacrificed any margin for error, as they threat getting left behind altogether — letting another season finish in mid-April.
There continues to be time for them to keep away from repeating that destiny. With their lineup again wholesome after a tough few weeks, they will nonetheless change the story. But it gained’t simply occur as a result of they need it to. And it has to begin now.
“Obviously we’ve been in that situation before, we know how much it can stink,” Seider mentioned. “We better come up with an answer for that. It’s all on us right now.”
