A team from Michigan being bailed out by a team from Columbus, Ohio.
Yes, this is what it’s come down to for the Detroit Red Wings and their playoff hopes.
The only reason the Wings still maintain their razor-thin hold on a share of the NHL’s final Eastern Conference wildcard playoff position is because the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-2 shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Wings know all about two-goal deficits. Tuesday’s 6-2 loss at Tampa Bay to the Lightning marked the seventh time in Detroit’s past 10 games that the Wings have trailed by two or more goals.
If this is the Wings’ version of clamping down for the stretch run, then the chances of stretching their streak of consecutive playoff appearances to 25 seasons is beginning to develop stretch marks.
“You can’t give up goals early,… Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “The first four or five shifts were fine, but then we give up a free look. You can’t give up free looks.
“You have to find a way. You can’t give up five or six goals in a game and expect to win and you can’t give up free looks early and expect to win.…
The Lightning raced to a 2-0 lead and then upped it to 3-0 early in the second period, chasing Jimmy Howard from the Detroit net.
Just 1:55 in, Eric Condra got behind Detroit defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson and beat Howard on the breakaway. Tampa Bay made it 2-0 off a Kronwall turnover and the third Lightning goal banked off Ericsson past Howard.
“Not good enough,… Blashill said. “I thought we came out fine but we talked about not giving up any free chances and we gave up free chances for two goals.
“You can’t give up free goals like that. They’re going to create enough on their own; they certainly created some on their own.
“You can’t end up giving those free type looks.…
The Wings have surrendered four or more goals in five of their last 10 games.
“We’ve got to find ways to keep pucks out of our net,… Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader said. “Playing catch-up hockey is losing hockey. It’s too hard in this league to come back against good teams.
“As much as we can we’ve got to limit our turnovers and keep breakdowns from happening.…
Slow starts continue to plague the Wings. They’ve fallen behind in nine of 10 games so far this month.
“It’s tough to give up some of the goals we did and to play from behind,… Abdelkader said. “Starts are big in this league. You’ve got to come prepared and ready to go on time.
“I don’t think it was a terrible first period by us but just we’ve got to make sure we keep goals out of our net and try to limit our mistakes and turnovers.…
The Wings can’t wait for someone to ride to their rescue. They must rescue themselves and soon, before it’s too late.
“It’s got to come from within here,… Howard said. “There’s no one . . . there’s not going to be any knight in shining armour that comes over the fence here and through the door that’s going to get the job done for us.
“It’s got come from within here.…
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