The Daily: Why Habs Are Better Than Red Wings; Buchenikov Prepares

It had to be additional pain for Red Wings fans to see the Montreal Canadiens celebrating their playoff-clinching Wednesday night because the Detroit team was supposed to be equal to better than the Habs this season.

But the Habs did what they needed to do, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 Wednesday to claim the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

If the Red Wings beat Toronto tonight, they can finish four points behind Montreal.  They are similar teams. Montreal has scored 10 more goals than Detroit, but also gave up 10 more. Both teams have a goal differential of -20. Montreal has Nick Suzuki. Detroit has Dylan Larkin. The Canadiens boast Cole Caufield (37 goals) and Detroit relies on Alex DeBrincat (38 goals). Neither team has elite goaltending. Both teams have merged promising draft picks into the mix.  Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond are getting it done for Detroit. Lane Hutson and Juraj Slafkovsky play big roles for Montreal.

In the playoffs, we will likely see young Ivan Demidov start his emergence to stardom.  Undoubtedly, Montreal benefits from picking earlier in the draft than Detroit.

The Loss

But the real difference between Detroit and Montreal is the Canadiens found a way to rise up at the opportune times. This Detroit group has not been able to that. The Red Wings’ March collapse was similar to what we saw last season. They haven’t yet learned how to rise up.

Nothing illustrates that more than Detroit’s three losses to Montreal this season. Right before Derek Lalonde was fired, on Dec. 20 and 21, at a time when it was clear the Red Wings needed to step up, they were swept in a home-and-home against Detroit.  On Dec. 26, Lalonde was gone.

Then under Todd McLellan, the Red Wings went into Montreal on April 8, to play a game with critical playoff implications. The Red Wings dominated the first period, and the game was 1-1 going into the third period. But it was the Canadiens who figured out how to win. Final score: Montreal 4, Detroit 1. The Red Wings left Montreal down in the standings by eight points, instead of four.

GM Steve Yzerman’s biggest concern has to be that Detroit hasn’t figured out to how close a deal the way the Canadiens have.

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

Dylan Larkin scores 30th and Lucas Raymond reaches 80 points in Detroit win against the New Jersey Devils

Dimitri Buchelnikov is taking steps in preparation to play for the Detroit Red Wings. It includes learning English.

Todd McLellan’s arrival in Detroit was a major plus for Alex DeBrincat. His game reached another level under McLellan.

Red Wings Extra

Detroit has won three in a row and is 6-2-1 in their last nine games. Five of those wins have come against playoff teams. But that’s no consolation for a team missing the NHL playoffs for the ninth consecutive season. The Red Wings close out their season tonight with a road game against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. FanDuel Sports Network). Don’t forget that this also John Keating’s last game as the host of FanDuel television coverage. The popular, witty broadcaster is retiring. He will be missed.

Hockey Now Network

Colorado: With the playoffs starting Saturday, Gabriel Landeskog is participating in the Avalanche full practice. Colorado Avalanche. 

New Jersey: With Jack Hughes sidelined with injury, the Devils open the playoffs as underdogs against the Carolina Hurricanes. New Jersey Devils. 

Philadelphia: William James offers three out-of-the-box candidates to the new coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Pittsburgh: Bryan Rust makes it clear he doesn’t want to leave the Pittsburgh Penguins.

San Jose: Sheng Peng looks at what the Sharks’ goaltending will be like in 2025-26.  Yaroslav Askarov will probably be a part of it. San Jose Sharks.