Red Wings Give Away Important Point

DETROIT —  In an NHL playoff race where every point will matter, the Detroit Red Wings gave away a point that could come back to haunt them

The Red Wings squandered a two-goal lead in the final 6:53 of regulation and fell 4-3 to Minnesota Wild on an overtime goal by Marco Rossi.

“Before the break when we were  rolling, we were in those situations and we got on the forecheck and I’m sure Todd (McLellan) will have a video for us tomorrow and we’ll be able to fix what we didn’t do well tonight,”  Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said.

Blowing leads is not something the Red Wings have done this season. They are 20-1-2 this season when leading after 40 minutes.

Wild Owned Third

The Red Wings were out-shot 17-5 in the third period. The Wild cut Detroit’s lead to one goal by scoring an official even-strength goal by Matt Boldy. They had an extra attacker because of a delayed penalty.

The tying goal by Marcus Foligno came with 1:31 left when Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was off for a sixth attacker.

“We let them gain the zone and establish zone time late in the game,” Larkin said.

Coach McLellan has talked more than once about the importance of winning the race to three goals in these games. This was the first time in the 22 games he has coached Detroit that his team has won the race to three goals and lost the game.

In their first game back since the 4 Nations Face-off break, the Red Wings simply weren’t as buttoned up as they had been during two seven-game winning streaks.

Bad Turnover

The winning goal resulted from a turnover by Detroit defenseman Erik Gustafsson at the Minnesota blue line.

After Lucas Raymond scored Detroit’s second power play goals 22 seconds into the third period, the Wild made an unsuccessful challenge that gave Detroit another power play opportunity. But the Red Wings never looked dangerous on that opportunity.

Former 67s star Marco Rossi completes the comeback for Minnesota in Detroit!

Red Wings now tied with Ottawa in points and games played. #NHL
pic.twitter.com/lTOGDIssqU

— Locked On Senators (@SensCentral) February 22, 2025

“We were a little bit sloppy and we could have put the nail in the coffin there and that kind of hurt us a little bit,” McLellan said.

The Red Wings also received a power play in overtime on a Rossi hooking call.

“But four-on-three in overtime, good look off the crossbar could have
put the nail in the coffin (too) and we didn’t,” McLellan said.

McLellan was not with Detroit last season, but most of his players were. They all know the importance of a lost point down the stretch. The Red Wings missed the playoffs by a single point. Fighting for every point is a theme this season.

“It was just an odd game. Are we disappointed?,” McLellan said. “We gave up a point, certainly. I thought when we started the third and we scored, we felt  pretty good. ”

But no one felt good at the end of the game. At the very least, the Red Wings will get a chance to redeem themselves quickly because they play Anaheim at Little Caesars Sunday at 6  p.m.