Red Wings Involved In Race Between Tortoise And Snail

For sure, the Detroit Red Wings find themselves in the midst of a playoff race. But what type of race is it?

You’ve certainly heard of the fable of the tortoise and the hare. The speedy hare, brimming with overconfidence, allows the slow-moving tortoise to gain too much of a lead and can’t catch up.

That’s not this race. The chase for the two Wild Card positions in the NHL’s Eastern Conference looks more like a race beween a tortoise and a snail.

It’s about as slow-moving as the pursuit of a postseason placing could get. This seems to be a race that nobody wants to win.

Final.

Back here Thursday vs. Utah. pic.twitter.com/K9F1aadcm3

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 5, 2025

Consider that the Red Wings are 2-4-1 over the last seven games. They’ve lost three in a row. And yet, it wasn’t until Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes that the club was finally slipping out of one of the coveted playoff slots.

As they ready to play the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday at Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings are now situated 10th overall in the East. Still, they are a scant point out of the playoffs.

Red Wings Slip In Recent Days

It was the New York Rangers who moved past Detroit into a the eighth seed in the East on Tuesday. And they did so without even playing. Detroit’s loss dropped the club behind the Rangers via a tiebreaker. Both had 66 points at the time. It marked the first time since Feb. 1 that the Wings weren’t occupying a postseason position.

Game-winning goal ✅
13-game point streak ✅
Tim Stützle, ladies and gentlemen 👏#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/7BZpFpdgqS

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 6, 2025

Wednesday, both the Rangers and Ottawa Senators were in action. Taking a 4-3 overtime verdict over the Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa jumped past both Detroit and the Rangers into eighth spot with 67 points. New York squandered a 2-1 lead and lost 3-2 in OT to the Washington Capitals. The Rangers fell into ninth with 67 points, percentage points behind the Senators.

Over the past 10 games, Ottawa is 4-5-1. The Rangers are 6-3-1, which actually makes them the hottest team in this race.

Detroit is 5-4-1, as are the Columbus Blue Jackets. Recent winners of back-to-back games over the Wings, Columbus is seventh in the East with 68 points.

At 65 points, the Montreal Canadiens have won five in a row. Even at that, the Habs are only 6-4 through the past 10 games.

The Boston Bruins (64 points) are 3-5-2. At 63 points, the New York Islanders are 4-6-0. And the Philadelphia Flyers (62 points) are 4-4-2.

The best thing the Red Wings may have going for them in this race is that nobody looks likely to be going on a heater and pulling away from the pack.

To that end, Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider believes the judicious approach is to avoid the standings and focus on fixing their own issues.

“I don’t pay any attention to what’s going on around the league,” Seider said. “I don’t really care.

“We have enough on our own plate and just gotta get back to work and get out of that slump.”