Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings Go Down Meekly In Ottawa Again

Detroit has lost nine of the last 11 games to Ottawa

Published

1 year ago

February 28, 2023

Bob Duff

Dominik Kubalik netted the only Red Wings goal in a 6-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

Were you expecting a strong pushback from the Detroit Red Wings following Monday’s embarrassing road loss to the Ottawa Senators?

Well, you weren’t alone.

Ultimately, though, the only push was involving the Red Wings figuratively pushing their playoff hopes off a cliff.

A 6-1 loss to the Senators was leaving the Red Wings with a dismal 8.9% chance of qualifying for the NHL’s Stanley Cup tournament. On Monday, Ottawa whipped Detroit 6-2.

For the second night in a row, Detroit lost the battle, lost the plot and naturally, lost the game in the process. The Wings also lost defenseman Filip Hronek. He left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury.

“It was something he was dealing with even going into the game,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde told Bally Sports Detroit after the game. “We’ll re-evaluate and see where he is tomorrow.”

Kuby's 17th on the season. 👌 pic.twitter.com/kv9kJsAvB2

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 1, 2023

Things began hopefully enough when Dominink Kubalik scored on a well-placed shot to put the Red Wings into an early 1-0 lead. And that was pretty much where the positives came to an end for Detroit.

Ottawa scored six unaswered goals to record a second consecutive easy win over Detroit on home ice.

The goals came in just about every manner possible. Scoring his eighth goal in eight games, Tim Stutzle tallied on a penalty shot. Austin Watson scored twice, one of them a shorthanded marker. He’s registered four of his seven goals this season when facing the Red Wings.

Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat scored power-play goals. Brady Tkachuk also scored.

Red Wings In Three-Game Skid

Coupled with Saturday’s 3-0 home-ice loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Red Wings are now winless and pointless over the past three games. While they could chalk up the Tampa Bay loss to running into the incredible goaltending display of Andrei Vasilevskiy, the two setbacks in Canada’s capital were the result of self-inflicted wounds.

The win pulled Ottawa even with Detroit in terms of points, each at 64. Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers were beating the Lightning 3-1 to move ahead of the Wings with 66 points.

Games involving both the New York Islanders (69 points) and Pittsburgh Penguins (67 points), holders of the Eastern Conference Wild Card playoff spots, were still ongoing on Tuesday. As well, the Buffalo Sabres, with 66 points, were playing the Columbus Blue Jackets.