After everything the Detroit Red Wings have gone through this season — a miserable start, a sudden surge after a midseason coaching change, and a disastrous March to give it all back — it was hard to believe the Red Wings were where they were entering Tuesday night’s game in Montreal: still, somehow, in the fight.
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If Detroit had pulled off the win over the Canadiens, it would have trimmed Montreal’s lead in the Eastern Conference wild-card race to just four points, with the Red Wings having an extra game remaining (five). That’s still a long shot, to be sure, but it was enough to give them a fighting chance.
And that’s how the Red Wings came out Tuesday, fighting — peppering Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault with 23 shots in the first period. They got the start they wanted, and captain Dylan Larkin gave them the early goal they needed, his first in nine games. They were physical. They looked inspired.
But after Montreal tied the game at 1 late in the second period, the Red Wings couldn’t find the next goal they so badly needed. J.T. Compher sailed a puck high while staring down an open net, off a friendly bounce with Montembeault out of the crease to play the puck. Lucas Raymond couldn’t convert on a partial breakaway. And finally, they paid the price.
Midway through the third period, Albert Johansson lost his helmet in a battle behind the net, and Montreal’s Josh Anderson capitalized, banging home the game-winner while Johansson (who by rule had to either secure his helmet or go to the bench) was going to get it.
Josh Anderson puts the Habs ahead! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/m3VEvNSQ4G
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 9, 2025
Tack on a pair of empty-netters, and the 4-1 final is a virtual dagger to the Red Wings’ already faint playoff hopes. Detroit outshot the Canadiens, 36-21, but in a story that was all too familiar, could not put enough in the net. They are now eight points back of Montreal with five games left, meaning the Red Wings would need to either win four of their remaining five games, with Montreal losing out, or win all five if the Canadiens win just one — and have enough of those wins in regulation to secure the tiebreaker, all while also holding off the Rangers, Blue Jackets and Islanders, with whom they are currently tied.
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It’s a theoretical possibility, but one so remote that it merits only nominal consideration.
Detroit’s playoff drought looks destined to go to nine years, the second-longest active drought of any team (Buffalo is the longest at 14), and tied for the fourth-longest drought in NHL history. It’s a miserable place to be for one of the league’s most storied franchises.
This now goes beyond the expected pain of a rebuild — even knowing how dire a situation Steve Yzerman inherited as general manager back in 2019.
The Senators, who have been rebuilding on a parallel timeline to the Red Wings, clinched a playoff spot Tuesday night with Detroit’s loss, snapping their own seven-year drought. The Canadiens, who started their own rebuild after going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, look all but sure to be back in the postseason in less than half the time Detroit has taken.
No two rebuilds are exactly alike, of course, as each begins with different opportunities and challenges. But for both Atlantic Division opponents to get back to the playoffs before the Red Wings is concerning at a minimum and speaks to the missteps Detroit has made.
The 2-1 goal that sealed their fate Tuesday came off an offensive zone turnover by last summer’s top free agent acquisition Vladimir Tarasenko, who has underperformed all season. It also featured a lost race by Justin Holl, a 2023 free-agent signing who hasn’t worked out well in Detroit.
Those are just two plays of a 60-minute game, of course. There were all kinds of missed opportunities on the night. And even that goal was ultimately decided by Johansson’s lost helmet forcing him out of the play.
But the Red Wings’ lackluster results in free agency have been such a pain point that the back-breaking goal coming in that fashion hit especially hard.
While this loss wasn’t as conclusive as last year’s ending in Montreal — when Detroit won in a shootout in its final regular-season game, only to learn it had missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker — the near-certainty of this result carries a similar weight.
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The Red Wings had fought back from the brink on multiple occasions this season, even putting themselves in a playoff spot in February, but couldn’t close the deal.
Now, they’re left with that nine-year drought, a fan base that is running out of patience, and an imperative to not repeat this all next season.
For the next nine days, Detroit will have no choice but to cling to that slim, theoretical playoff path until it becomes mathematically impossible.
They will go next to Florida, then Tampa, then back home to host Dallas — three teams who could easily win the Stanley Cup — before heading back on the road to New Jersey and Toronto.
Going into Tuesday, there was at least some question as to what would follow that.
But after a gutting loss, their fate appears to be sealed.
(Photo: Eric Bolte / Imagn Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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