Detroit Red Wings
Duff: The Five Reasons Red Wings Are Failing…Again
Detroit lost six of last seven road games
It’s the overall ineptitude of the teams battling for the final NHL Eastern Conference Wild Card that is keeping the Detroit Red Wings in the playoff chase. Certainly, the Red Wings themselves aren’t doing much to help their own cause.
Wednesday, it was the New York Islanders flubbing a chance to move into the eighth seed. They lost 5-2 to the Vancouver Canucks.
That leaves Montreal (75 points) in eighth, followed by the Islanders (74) and New York Rangers (74). Columbus is at 73. Then Detroit sits with 72 points.
“We’re in it right now,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “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.”
Three points out of the playoffs and with four teams situated between them and that coveted postseason placing, here are five reasons why the Red Wings figure to come up short of the objective again this spring.
Red Wings Can’t Keep Puck Out Of Net
Since the club’s most recent seven-game win streak – their second under new coach McLellan – the Red Wings have headed south.
Detroit is 5-11-1 over the past 17 games. The Wings have won back-to-back games once in that span. That’s hardly a playoff drive.
I will follow the Red Wings to hell and back, I just wish they would stop going there.
— Mike (@MikeWilber_) March 26, 2025
If you’re looking for a culprit, it’s a familiar one. Too many goals are going in the Detroit net.
Twelve times over the last 18 games, the Red Wings have surrendered four or more goals in a single game. It’s reminiscent of last season’s failed stretch drive. Seven times in the final 11 games, Detroit allowed four or more goals.
Road Record Has Turned Abysmal
Early in McLellan’s Red Wings tenure, the team was enjoying an impressive level of success away from home. Detroit went 8-2-1 in the first 11 road games under McLellan.
Lately on the road, they’ve been skidding off the road. Detroit is 1-6 over the last seven away games. Six of those seven losses were multi-goal setbacks.
Penalty Kill Is Murdering Red Wings
The sworn arch enemy of Detroit success this season, the penalty kill is as bad as ever – if not even worse – of late. Over the past eight games, the Wings are 10-for-18 on the PK. That’s an appalling 55.5% success rate.
Can the Red Wings stop sending 3 guys to the corner on the PK. It’s ridiculous that at the NHL level Detroit is making this big of a fundamental mistake. This is why the PK sucks.
— Justin Satawa (@Justin_Satawa) March 25, 2025
Detroit is last in the NHL on the penalty kill at 68.5%. Oddly enough, the Wings are on pace to post the worst PK percentage in franchise history and the best power-play percentage (28.1%) in franchise history in the same season.
Everyone Has Forgotten How To Score
Interesting, isn’t it that whatever line the Wings move Marco Kasper to instantly becomes the team’s most effective unit. That was the case when he was skating on the wing with captain Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. Now, Kasper is at center between Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat and they’ve been lighting lamps.
Kasper and DeBrincat each have four goals in the past seven games. Kane has tallied three times over that same seven-game span.
Meanwhile, just about every other forward on the team is in a goal-scoring drought. Larkin has four goals the past 15 games. Jonatan Berggren has three goals in 19 games and Vladimir Tarasenko three goals in 27 games.
Raymond has scored twice in 15 games and Michael Rasmussen twice in 16 games. Elmer Soderblom also has two goals in 16 games, while JT Compher has scored twice in 24 games. Austin Watson has scored that many goals over the past two games.
Tyler Motte shows one goal in 25 games. Dominik Shine has yet to tally in eight NHL games.
Lalonde Dug Red Wings Deep Hole
With the Wings in the midst of a playoff race, it’s easy to forget how far they were off the pace when McLellan was replacing Derek Lalonde behind the bench on Dec. 26. At that juncture, Detroit was 14th overall in the East with a .441 points percentage (13-17-4). That was also 28th overall in the 32-team NHL.
The Red Wings were eight points out of a playoff spot. It took those two seven-game win streaks under McLellan just to get back into the postseason conversation.
