The Daily: Red Wings Will Stay in Playoffs Another Day; Devils Need D Man?

The Red Wings went 7-2-1 in their past 10 games and lost ground to the New York Islanders (8-2) in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They only gained one point on the Ottawa Senators (7-3).

How tight is the race in East? Six teams are within five points of each other fighting for third place in the Atlantic Division and two wildcard spots.

None of those teams had fewer than 10 points over the past 10 games.

Tonight, the Boston Bruins can move into a playoff spot if they earn one point against the New York Rangers. The idle Red Wings cannot fall out of the playoffs tonight.

Red Wings In Case You Missed it

The recent four-game run of the table against the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken marks the first time Detroit has gone 4-0 on a road trip since 1996.

Patrick Kane set the NHL career record for shootout goals to give the Red Wings a 5-4 win against the Seattle Kraken.

Five factors in the Red Wings’ recent surge that may be going unnoticed. One of them Elmer Soderblom. 

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Red Wings Extra

Detroit is now 15-4-1 in the 20 games under coach Todd McLellan. The team is scoring 3.45 goals per game under McLellan. If the Wings had averaged that all season, they would have the league’s fourth-highest scoring average. The Red Wings were 13-17-4 under Derek Lalonde. Detroit has one game remaining (Saturday home against Tampa Bay) before the 4 Nations Face-off.

Hockey Now Network

New Jersey: Who’s the replacement for defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler? James Nichols weighs in. New Jersey Devils. 

Philadelphia:  The Flyers end their scoring drought, but they still lose another game. Philadelphia Flyers.

Pittsburgh: Dan Kingerski graded former Detroit goalie Alex Nedeljkovic with A, but it wasn’t enough from preventing the Penguins suffering another loss. Pittsburgh Penguins.