Red Wings Still Three Points Back After Loss to Avs

The Eastern Conference did what it could to keep the Red Wings in the wildcard race, even if the Detroit team couldn’t do anything to help itself Tuesday night.

While the Colorado Avalanche were humbling the Red Wings 5-2 in Denver, the Ottawa Senators (to Buffalo), Montreal Canadiens (to St. Louis) and New York Rangers (to Los Angeles) all lost. That leaves the Red Wings still only three points out of a playoff spot with 11 games to play.

The grind of the race hit home for the Red Wings when goalie Alex Lyon had to play on consecutive nights because Cam Talbot is banged up.

“And there’s 800 players and probably 100 coaches in the league right now that understand that’s the way it’s going to be,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said in his post-game press conference, broadcast by FanDuel Sports Network. “But the ones that are lucky enough get to do it for another six weeks. And that’s just how it is in the playoffs, too. So we’re in it right now. We’re battling for it. It’s a grind. Part of growing up as a young player or a young team is dealing with it, and we’re learning those lessons. And some nights we do it well and some nights we don’t. So let’s keep improving if we can.”

McLellan said the Red Wings woke up to news that Talbot wouldn’t be able to play.

Talbot tweaked something Monday, and “it worked its way into today.”

“By the time we all got out of bed and began our meetings and treatments for the day, he wasn’t able to go,” McLellan said. “Sometimes you’re thrown a curveball.”

The Red Wings called up prospect Sebastian Cossa.  However, flying from Grand Rapids, he wasn’t able to reach Denver until an hour before game time.

Avs Surging

Lyon gave up four goals on 28 shots. Colorado’s fifth goal was an empty-netter.

“Playing back to back at this elevation with last night’s taxing game,” McLellan said. “I got a lot of respect for that guy. It wasn’t easy, and he got tested by a real good hockey club tonight. Made some good saves. I’m sure he’s exhausted and he’ll get his rest. But he answered the call and we’re happy for that.”

This game reminds the Red Wings of how far they have to go to become a contender. The Avalanche are 11-1-1 in their last 13 games and 15-4-1 in their last 20. Their star players Nathan MacKinnon (goal and an assist) and Cale Makar (27th goal) were dominant.

Colorado extended its point streak over Detroit to 14 games (13-0-1). That’s the fourth-longest active point streak an NHL team has against an opponent. During that span, the Avs are 7-0-0 against Detroit in Denver and out-scored the Red Wings 40-17 in those games.

“We’re fighting,” said Detroit’s J.T. Compher, who scored his team’s first goal. “We are going to fight until there’s nothing left to fight for and that’s every guy in this room. That’s the mentality that I see, that I hear in-between periods. I hear it before and after games. This group wants it really bad.