NEW YORK − The Detroit Red Wings squandered another opportunity to gain ground in the standings as their season slips away.
Their latest matchup had them taking on the New York Rangers, already eliminated from the 2026 playoff race. The stop at Madison Square Garden in a matinee on Saturday, April 4, was the last on a three-game trip that had just offered a sliver of a sign the Wings might make a push, but no: The Wings mustered neither assertiveness nor resistance, falling 4-1.
The Wings (40-28-8) have lost five of their past seven games, and have six games left. They’re 0-3 playing on national television the last three Saturdays.
Detroit Red Wings playoff picture
With a 12:30 p.m. start, the Wings closed the book on their game while still waiting for results of the other Saturday games that will impact Detroit’s playoff race. The Philadelphia Flyers (88 points, six games remaining were idle) but other teams starting the day at 88 points were active: The Ottawa Senators hosted the Minnesota Wild, and the Columbus Blue Jackets hosted the Winnipeg Jets.
Playing from behind
The Wings gave up the first goal for the 11th time their last 16 games. Vladislav Gavrikov fired a shot on net from the high slot that Jaroslav Chmelar tipped behind Gibson at 13:19 of the first period. Of the Wings’ eight shots on net in the first period, Jonathan Quick’s best save was on David Perron as he came flying in from the left side and ripped the puck in the last 90 seconds of the period.
The deficit grew late in the second period. Gibson came up with a huge save on a slap shot from Mika Zabinejad from the left wall, but on the same sequence, Zibanejad set up Gabe Perrault, whose wrist shot made it 2-0 at with four minutes to play.
Perreault scored again at 7:13 of the third period during a power play when he redirected a pass from Jonny Brodzinski off the rush.
The Wings went on a fourth power play with 5:45 remaining in the third and pulled Gibson for an extra attacker. Gibson stayed on the bench when the power play expired. Perreault completed his natural hat trick with an empty-net goal with 1:44 to play.
David Perron avoided a shutout when he scored his first goal since being acquired at the trade deadline, with 32.1 seconds on the clock.
Dylan Larkin banged up
It’s no secret Dylan Larkin is playing hurt since returning March 24 from a seven-game layoff with a lower-body injury. He again had to crawl off the ice Saturday, after a collision with Chmelar near the midpoint of the second period. Larkin played three more shifts, totaling about three and a half minutes, the rest of the period. He likewise crawled off the ice after a hit four days earlier in the game at the Pittsburgh Penguins. Larkin had a team-leading four shots after two periods.
Lineup changes
Justin Faulk (lower body) was unavailable so the Wings called up Axel Sandin-Pellikka and inserted him on the second pairing, opposite Ben Chiarot, a pairing that was together much of the season until Faulk’s arrival at the March 6 trade deadline. Up front, Michael Rasmussen returned to the lineup for the first time since a lower-body injury sidelined him March 12. His return bumped Mason Appleton (one goal in previous 34 games). Rasmussen centered James van Riemsdyk and Dominik Shine and the penalty kill. Carter Mazur was scratched for a second straight game.
Up next
Sunday at Little Caesars Arena against the Minnesota Wild (1 p.m., TNT, HBO Max), the start of a four-game home stand.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Red Wings’ season keeps slipping away in disheartening loss to Rangers
Reporting by Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
