Red Wings Need Tuesday’s Game in Montreal to Be Meaningful

The Detroit Red Wings need the Philadelphia Flyers to do them a favor tonight. They need them to beat the Montreal Canadiens.

Maybe the Flyers owe them one.

Last season, the Flyers pulled their goalie with three minutes left in a tie game against the Washington Capitals. It made sense because the only way the Flyers could get into the playoffs was to prevent Washington from earning a single point. Instead of earning a regulation win, the Flyers surrendered an empty net goal and Washington won 2-1 to earn a playoff spot ahead of the Red Wings.

Of course none of that matters this year, but it’s difficult to not remember the history as the Red Wings need the Flyers to win tonight to keep them four points back of the Habs.

If the Flyers down the Canadiens in regulation in Montreal tonight, and the Red Wings (with five points in their last three games) beat the Florida Panthers Sunday, then Tuesday’s Red Wings vs. Canadiens’ game in Montreal suddenly takes on a fresh importance.

Tuesday Looms Large

The Red Wings only have seven games remaining, but they are happier with the way they are playing. Cam Talbot has been effective in net, and the team has given up just six goals in their last three games. In their 5-3 win against Carolina, the Red Wings blocked 25 shots compared to six for Carolina. Simon Edvinsson and Jeff Petry had five blocks each. Michael Ramussen totaled four.

The win over Carolina is a confidence booster.

“(The Hurricanes) are a load to handle,” coach Todd McLellan said. “What are they now? Twelve and 3 in their last 15? And beat some really good teams. They give up the fewest amount of shots, usually have the most or the largest shot differential. I don’t think a goaltender can just beat that team on his own. It has to be a team game. And we made some mistakes. They made us pay. But we sold out, blocked some shots, got some good penalty killing, some timely saves when we needed it. So for me, Talbs was real good. But this was as much a team win as it was a goaltender win.”

When the penalty killing comes through, the Red Wings are having a good night.

“We talked about the story’s not done yet,” McLellan said. “We can still write another chapter or two. So let’s get playing the way we can. And again, I keep saying I look up at the scoreboard at the end of the night. Don’t worry about standings or scores or anything like that. Last year’s experience with this group, I’m sure it helps. It can’t hurt. The belief system should be there, we’ve been through this before. Let’s keep pushing. We’ll see what happens after Florida.”

At this point, all that the Red Wings want is for Tuesday’s game against Montreal to mean something in the playoff race.