The last week for the Red Wings has been bad by most measures, and worse by the rest. After getting what they thought would be just the right players to help reinforce a solid core of players at the trade deadline, seemingly half the lineup has dropped like flies as the Red Wings lost all three of their games over the last week.
Detroit is still without their top two centers, and while the addition of David Perron to the lineup at the end of the week may be something of a morale booster, losing three games in a row has this team moving in the wrong direction, fast.
Southwards
After starting their four game road trip in New Jersey with a win over the Devils, the Red Wings moved down the state lines to face off against the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Facing off against last year's Stanley Cup winner, the Red Wings were unable to win their rematch of trade deadline night on Tuesday. Justin Faulk scored his first goal wearing the winged wheel and Detroit looked like they might begin to string together some wins, however a late game collapse by the team led to a 4-3 Panthers win.
Making the short trip to Tampa next, Detroit got stonewalled by Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Lightning. J.T. Compher, playing on the top line between Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat, was the only player wearing red to score on the night, despite the Red Wings spending a hefty amount of time in the Lightning's zone, including forcing two of their defenseman to take a four minute shift. However, none of the Red Wings shots landed, and enough of the Lightning's did that by the time Detroit pulled the goalie with three minutes left the game already looked mostly over.
At the end of the week, the Red Wings found themselves facing down the Dallas Stars, who are suffering some injury woes of their own. The Stars, without Mikko Rantanen or Roope Hintz, got ahead of the Red Wings 2-0 before the start of the third period with goals from Wyatt Johnston and Michael Bunting. The Red Wings did manage to secure a point in the game, however, as a late-game push forced overtime. Simon Edvinsson was credited for the point when Stars' goalie Jake Oettinger knocked the puck back over the line into his own net to make things 2-1 halfway through the period. Lucas Raymond would score with less than five minutes left in regulation to make it 2-2 breaking a five-game drought.
However, Thomas Hartley would score for Dallas two minutes into overtime, dashing the Red Wings hopes of winning this week.
Where the winds blow
Halfway through the month, the Red Wings have two wins to their name and a string of losses. They've lost five of the last six games and in the past week dropped from the first wildcard in the Atlantic to out of playoff picture altogether. Michael Rasmussen was injured in the Red Wings game against Tampa, not participating against the Stars, and AHL call-up rookie Michael Brandsegg-Nygard also had to sit against Dallas due to injury.
To put it in seafaring terms:
The ship is leaking fast and the crew keeps losing men trying to patch the holes.
If the Red Wings hope to make the playoffs and break a ten-year playoff drought, they'll need to win the majority of their games over the next month. Head coach Todd McLellan didn't want to talk about a March slump when it was brought up earlier this month, but the team is playing an all too familiar tune 15 days into it.
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