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Is it too early to panic?
Probably. Maybe. Then again . . .
Thanksgiving is often looked upon as a benchmark of the NHL season. If you aren’t a playoff team then, odds are you won’t be a playoff team when it matters most, at the end of the season.
Thanksgiving came and went, and for the second year in a row, the Detroit Red Wings were not situated among the eight available playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the New York Rangers was Detroit’s third setback in succession, albeit two of them coming in overtime, so the Wings did collect two points over that span.
Regardless, they were all still losses. And the more you lose, the further you fall back in the race.
“It is what it is,” Detroit left-winger Tomas Tatar suggested, invoking the most overworked phrase in the sporting vernacular but we’ll give him a pass on this one, because he actually has a valid point.
A year ago on Nov. 24, six of the eight teams who were situated in playoff spots in the East finished up as playoff teams. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were crippled by injury, and the New Jersey Devils, who were clearly overachieving, tumbled from the top eight the rest of the way. The Boston Bruins (one point out) and Toronto Maple Leafs (three points out) battled their way into one of the eight postseason positions.
Detroit was four points out at this point last season, and couldn’t make up that ground. The Wings are just two points in arrears this season, so at least there’s still hope, but not if they keep squandering leads.
Friday was the second time in three games that the Wings blew a third-period lead. That just can’t happen. Good teams don’t let that happen. It’s a simple fact of life.
“It’s just too bad we didn’t hold the score,” Tatar said. “It’s really tough to swallow this, but it’s the hockey. These kind of games happen.
“We just have to play the same way tomorrow.”
The Wings come home to face the Devils Friday at Little Caesars Arena, the same Devils who look to be playing above their heads again this season, situated a surprising second overall in the Metropolitan Division.
These are the games the Wings must win if they want to claw their way back into the playoff picture.
“We talked about it,” Tatar said of their recent sub-par efforts. “We know we didn’t play good enough. We knew we are way better.
“I think we stepped up tonight. It would be great to have a two-pointer. One’s maybe not the best but we have one, and tomorrow’s going to be a huge game. It’s back to back. We have to get ready, get a good rest and take the two points if we can.”
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