Ullmark Freezes Red Wings Out

In their first game since the trade deadline and acquiring Petr Mrazek and Craig Smith, the Red Wings lost to Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators’ trade deadline acquisition, Dylan Cozens. Former Red Wing David Perron had the first goal of the game, scoring in the second period off of a power play, but Dylan Larkin managed to tie the game in the third period to get his 27th of the season. However, a late power play goal by Cozens with 5 minutes left in the period sealed the win for Ottawa 2-1.

Osgood Called it

Chris Osgood sat in tonight on the play by play with Ken Daniels and much like in his playing days, he had the read on the situation well in hand by the second period.

“Ullmark is the story of the Ottawa Senators [tonight].” Said Osgood on the call for FanDuel Sports Network

The Red Wings struggled to find their footing to score despite having nearly 50 shots tonight.

Said Lucas Raymond, “We had tons of looks to put the puck in the net and I mean, it is what it is… I feel like this stretch of the season with this few of the games left, its about winning hockey games and finding ways to win, and we haven’t done a good enough job with that.”

Ullmark blocked shots with just about every part of his body. That included two shots with his head in the first period (on a power play), and more than a few diving saves tonight. Ottawa signed the veteran netminder in the offseason to a 4-year, 33 million dollar contract. Larkin’s goal in the third period to tie the game came only after Raymond got a backhand pass to the outlet sandwiched between two Ottawa defenders. Ullmark couldn’t track the puck through traffic and Larkin deflected it off the inside of his leg to sneak one in.

Cold Streak Continues

The Red Wings have now lost five straight games, after a hot January and February that saw them winning seven straight. The streaky nature of the team is  something we saw even last year, when they went winless to start the month of March.  The story of last year’s Red Wings playoff push could be much the same as this year’s team if trends continue. The team ended up missing the playoffs by one point last year, and have played themselves out of both wild card spots less than a month after taking hold of the first one.

As I wrote at the beginning of the season, the 2024-25 Wings started in roughly the same place this year where they were last year. Late in the season, they’ve started retracing their old path even with a new coach at the helm. Former head coach Derek Lalonde said at the beginning of the season, “I think last year, our team was about a year ahead of schedule.”

Their new coach, at least, seems to think they have what it takes to change things and finally get over the hump.

Said Coach McLelllan, “If we play like this and continue to play like this we’ll find a way to get wins… Sometimes when you’re in a losing streak you’re playing really well and you’re still not coming out [on top]. Maybe this is the beginning of it.”

Those results will need to start showing in the win column sooner rather than later this year if Detroit wants to be playing playoff hockey.

Side Notes:

–Elmer Soderblom has added a nice size and physicality element to the lineup, and that was seen tonight on the top line. The only non-Yzerman draft pick that’s been on the top line in recent days has been Larkin.

-Lucas Raymond nearly beat the buzzer to tie the game, but the puck didn’t cross the line in time. He had the primary assist on the Larkin goal, giving him 44 on the season.

-Craig Smith didn’t show up on the scoresheet in his Red Wings debut but his presence was felt near the net.