The next three games project to go a long ways towards showing if the Detroit Red Wings will make the 2026 playoffs.
That’s because all three are against Atlantic Division opponents crowded right around the Wings in the NHL standings. The challenge begins Thursday, March 19, against the Montreal Canadiens, continues Saturday against the Boston Bruins, and then the Ottawa Senators come to town on Tuesday.
“A big week for us,” coach Todd McLellan said after practice Wednesday. “That’s probably an understatement, with the opponents that we play and the standings the way they are. We watch games a little closer now, we look at the scoreboard a little bit more, but we’re not the only team in the league doing that.
“It’s going to be really important that we get off to a good start tomorrow and we just take this one game at a time, because the opponents are obviously sitting right there in the same ring with us and we’re going to have to battle against them for those points.”
The stretch comes as the Wings remain without top center Dylan Larkin (lower-body, will be re-evaluated late March) and bottom-six center Michael Rasmussen (undisclosed, out at least another week), but top-six center Andrew Copp (lower body) could return within days, and forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (undisclosed) may be available against the Canadiens.
With the Bruins squeezing a point of their game on Tuesday against the Canadiens, the Wings (37-23-8, 82 points) slipped to the second wild card. The Bruins have the same record as the Wings, but are in the first wild card because they have 27 regulation victories, one more than the Wings, and that’s the first tiebreaker.
The Canadiens (37-20-10, 84 points) are third in the division, with a game in hand. The Senators (34-24-9, 77 points) have 16 points their last 10 games (7-2-2).
The Wings are 1-1 against the Canadiens, 1-1-1 against the Bruins, and 3-0 (albeit with two overtime victories) against the Senators.
The Wings know all too well how important tiebreakers can be after being left out of the 2024 playoffs on one with the Canadiens.
“Just even like watching around the league last night right, you can’t really rely on anyone for any help,” Patrick Kane said. “I mean, the East is just so good this year, the teams are so good, it seems like teams are getting points every night. These are huge games for us, and we have three more in a row at home, so you try to take advantage of playing in front of the home crowd and bring our best.
“t’s that time of year when it feels like playoffs. It’s kind of on us in here and that’s the way we want it to be, we want to prove ourselves against these top teams. We know how meaningful these next games are. But I mean, who doesn’t want to play in these type of games, competingfor your life and trying to earn a spot to the dance. It’s a great time of year to be playing.”
The WIngs’ next road game is March 27 in Buffalo, New York, against the Sabres – the current Atlantic leader that is attempting to snap the league’s longest active playoff drought.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings face ‘big week’ that could determine playoff hopes
Reporting by Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
