Well, the Detroit Red Wings finally did it. They won a game for the first time in a week.
What time does the parade down Woodward start?
Look, the Wings deserve credit for winning a must-win game by routing another desperate team, the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-3, at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday, April 9.
They played well and hard. They scored four times on the power play. Dylan Larkin led the way, as a captain should, with a hat trick that included a shorthanded breakaway.
So maybe the Wings actually can pull this out and end a nine-year playoff drought, including a six-year streak under general manager Steve Yzerman.
But with three games left, they still need a lot of help in the standings.
They leapfrogged the Columbus Blue Jackets and are the last team outside the wild-card cutoff, with 91 points. But they didn’t make up ground on the Ottawa Senators, who beat Florida, 5-1, to maintain their three-point lead (with the tiebreaker) in the second wild-card spot.
If they don’t get it in but play just well enough in their final games and still miss the playoffs, my biggest fear is that they’ll count their failure as a moral victory. Like a kid who fails a class but gets an A on the final test.
See? If I just had more time, I bet I could have passed the class!
Wouldn’t that just be a perfectly convenient excuse for Yzerman and coach Todd McLellan?
They could paint their late-season flop as a gutsy final rally while as they explained to owner Christopher Ilitch why they aren’t in the playoffs. Of course, that would come after they explained to Ilitch that he still owns a hockey team.
Here’s your headline, Mo
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because we aren’t there yet. The Wings aren’t quite finished. There is hope. Do you believe in miracles (capital “M” or not)?
Sorry, wrong decade.
Look, I hope the Wings make the playoffs. Their fans are the most faithful among Detroit’s pro teams. Win or lose, they show up, yet they’ve never gotten to see the Wings host a playoff game at LCA, which opened for the 2017-18 season. Even the Pistons, whose 28-game losing streak set an NBA record just two years ago, have already hosted playoff games at LCA (though they haven’t won one there) and are now the toast of the league.
The Wings, meanwhile, have just been toast.
But here’s where they might find their salvation. You could hear the salvation in Larkin’s voice and tone, and especially in defenseman Moritz Seider’s attitude, when they spoke with reporters after the game.
Larkin was asked how badly he wants to make the playoffs and he looked like someone had asked how important breathing was to staying alive.
“I mean, jeez, saying it is one thing,” he said quietly, “and going home and thinking about it all day and night and driving my wife crazy for all the ups and downs, but to go out and do it [is different], and that’s what we did tonight as a team.
“And I don’t think our locker room, our team, is going anywhere with one or two guys. It takes all of us and that’s our sport. And that’s what it took tonight, and that’s what it’s going to take the next three [games].”
He’s right, but, also, teams look to their leaders in times of crisis. And the Wings are in crisis. They need Larkin, their captain. and Seider, their top defenseman (who came up with a goal and four assists Thursday), to deliver big right now and set the tone.
That’s exactly what Seider did in practice a day earlier.
“His leadership was real good when the mood was kind of iffy to begin with,” McLellan said of Seider’s attitude in practice. “I thought Mo did a real good job of setting the tone there, and it carried over into the game.”
What was even more impressive was Seider’s edgy, almost defiant attitude toward reporters.
“I think everyone knows that if things aren’t going well, especially in March, then people start barking a little bit, and that’s all right,” he said. “That’s how you guys get headlines.
“But I think we just got to do something about that in a positive way. And I think we kind of fueled that as a little bit of motivation and a little bit more effort and pride in that jersey. And I think hopefully that was a little step in the right direction.”
It certainly was. Even after so many stumbles since Jan. 25, when they led the Atlantic Division and had a 10-point cushion in the playoff standings with 29 games left, the Wings showed what they’re still capable of doing.
That’s why it will be a shame if they miss out on the playoffs once again. If that happens, we can only hope Ilitch doesn’t buy the excuse one more time like an indulgent parent who spoils his child by never dishing out any consequences.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings need big spark from Dylan Larkin, Moritz Seider
Reporting by Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
