Detroit – There are important stretches on every NHL regular-season schedule, and that’s exactly what the Red Wings have beginning with Thursday’s game against Montreal.
With only 14 games left, and the Eastern Conference playoff race very tight, the Wings play three consecutive home games against Montreal, Boston (Saturday) and Ottawa (Tuesday), all three teams right there with the Wings in the standings. And then for good measure, the Wings travel March 27 to Buffalo, which leads the Atlantic Division.
As the Wings attempt to end a nine-year playoff drought, this week likely will have a huge impact on whether they’re successful or not.
“Big week for us,” coach Todd McLellan said. “That’s probably an understatement with the opponents we play and the standings the way they are.”
This will be the third and final game this season against Montreal, which earned an overtime victory Tuesday against Boston, giving the Canadiens a two-point edge (84-82) over the Bruins and Wings.
Boston and the Wings occupy the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Columbus, which has played one less game than Boston and the Wings.
To say the Wings are playing meaningful late-season games would be an understatement. As could be expected, they’re thriving and looking forward to it.
There’s been too much of the alternative over the last nine years, with meaningless games and waiting for the calendar to get to the end in April.
“It’s a great time of the year,” forward Patrick Kane said. “Who doesn’t want to play in these types of games? You’re competing for your life and trying to earn a spot (in playoffs). It’s a great time of year to be playing.
“It’s one of those situations where it’s kind of like playoff time. You can’t rely on teams around the league to give you any help. It’s kind of on us in here and that’s the way it is and the way we want it to be. We have to prove ourselves against these top teams.”
The Wings are dealing with significant injuries, namely missing centers Dylan Larkin, Andrew Copp and Michael Rasmussen, depleting the Wings of depth at that position.
But opening the homestand Monday defeating struggling Calgary and banking all the points the Wings have earned to this stage of the season, has given the Wings the ability to control their destiny. Unlike the last two seasons, at least right now, the Wings aren’t as dependent on what other teams do.
“If you’re in that situation, you get rewarded for the work you’ve done already,” McLellan said. “You compare it to last year when, and when we (coaching staff) got here and we went 14 games without losing, two seven-game win streaks, and that still didn’t put us in that situation or controlling our own destiny.
“All the work we’ve put in this year puts us in a spot where we have to continue to apply our game. We’ve had to make adjustments due to injuries but throw our best game out there night after night and we’re in control. We don’t have to watch Washington or Philadelphia (two seasons ago, a game that ended the Wings’ season) or Montreal (last season), all that stuff, you don’t have to do that when you’re in complete control.
“But it’s going to change over the next little while because we’ll climb or fall with the teams we play and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Injury update
Copp (lower-body) and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (undisclosed) both participated in Wednesday’s practice, but McLellan was reluctant to say if either would be ready to play against Montreal.
Copp was injured March 10 against Florida and has missed the last three games. Copp increased his workload compared to Monday’s morning skate, and appeared to be close to returning to game action.
“Copper’s ahead of schedule,” said McLellan, who added a conversation must be had with the medical staff, Copp, and the coaching staff to figure out the next step. “I haven’t had a chance to visit with him or the medical team since practice ended. But we’ll meet and we’ll talk about when they believe, and when he believes, he could be available.
“He could be ready, but we want to make sure we get 14 games out of him and not one and done.”
McLellan said there was no further updates, or changes on timelines, on Dylan Larkin (lower-body) or Michael Rasmussen (undisclosed), both of whom remain unavailable.
Settling in
McLellan didn’t mince words after Monday’s victory when asked about defenseman Justin Faulk’s game against the Flames.
“I don’t know if he had his best game,” McLellan said.
But when you consider the upheaval in Faulk’s life in the last two weeks, since the Wings acquired the veteran at the March 6 trade deadline, maybe it’s somewhat understandable.
“Sometimes that’s coming home, (but) he’s not even home really yet,” said McLellan, noting Faulk joined the Wings at the start of a four-game road trip. “Coming to a new city. He walked into the locker room (Monday) and was lost. He said, ‘I’m going to get lost a few times.’ I know that feeling. He had to find somewhere to live. He’s got his family arriving.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a 12-year veteran.”
Canadiens at Red Wings
Faceoff: 7 p.m. Thursday, Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
TV/radio: FDSN/97.1 FM
Notable: The Wings (37-23-8, 82 points) continue their crucial homestand against Montreal (37-20-10, 84 points). … The two teams have split two games this season and this will be the final game between them. … RW Cole Caufield has reached the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career.
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Red Wings head into critical three-game stretch in playoff chase: ‘Big week’
Reporting by Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
