The Detroit Red Wings arrive at Saturday’s road matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning buried in a five-game losing streak, a run that has them tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the worst active skid in the Eastern Conference.
Only the Vancouver Canucks, who have dropped seven straight, are on a longer slide in the NHL right now.
Detroit’s trip could get uglier if the Wings lose again. A defeat would leave them 0-4 on the road trip and stretch their road losing streak to five games overall. Their latest stumble came Thursday against the Florida Panthers, when they blew a 4-1 lead and fell 5-4.
“As we put one finger in a hole, another spout opens up, and we’ve got to plug that,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan told reporters after the game.
Bad as this stretch looks, it still has a long way to go before it starts matching the worst losing runs in franchise history. The 1981-82 Red Wings dropped 14 straight games from February 24 through March 25.
Detroit has also had a pair of other ugly benchmarks. The 1976-77 team lost 11 in a row, and that same club also put together two separate seven-game losing streaks. More recently, in Steve Yzerman’s first season as Red Wings GM in 2019-20, Detroit lost 10 straight and also had a seven-game skid.
McLellan said his team is leaning too hard toward avoiding mistakes instead of pushing to win.
“We’re a team that hasn’t won a lot lately,” McLellan said. “Guys are trying to play a real honest game and try and be mistake-free. And you can’t play that way.
“You have to take some risk. You have to attack a little bit.”
The losses have also pushed the Wings to seven points out of a playoff spot. Thursday’s collapse stung even more because Florida currently holds the eighth and final postseason position. If Detroit had closed that one out, it would have been only three points back of the Panthers.
It has been 10 years since playoff hockey last came to Detroit, but the franchise’s past also offers a reminder that a rough stretch does not automatically close the door. Both of those earlier Red Wings teams eventually made the playoffs.
In Other News...
Red Wings Suddenly Have A Goalie Story Fans Need To Watch
Trey Augustine picked up his first professional win in style, stopping 31 shots in Grand Rapids 3-0 shutout of the Iowa Wild and giving the Griffins another reason to feel good about the crease. The young goalie has been steady through his early run with a 5-1-2 record, a 2.26 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage, and he did it for a team that has been rolling under Dan Cleary with a 12-2-1-1 record.
The goalie picture gets even more interesting because Michal Postava has been just as sharp, going 6-0 with a 1.50 GAA and a .944 save percentage, and he is expected back in Detroit this season. With Grand Rapids getting strong play from names like Carter Bear, John Leonard and Jesse Kiiskinen, the organization suddenly has real depth developing in net, and the next move on the goalie front is worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
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A busy stretch is already forming for Shawn Horcoff, and the Red Wings interim general manager has a roster puzzle that reaches well beyond the usual early-season housekeeping. Detroit has to sort out restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson by the December 1 deadline, while also weighing what to do with a group of pending unrestricted free agents that includes John Gibson, Andrew Copp and Justin Faulk. At the same time, the club is keeping an eye on its next wave of talent, with prospects such as Carter Bear and Jesse Kiiskinen in the conversation as the front office looks for ways to balance present needs with future flexibility.
The wrinkle is that Detroit is not operating in a vacuum. Reports say Edvinsson and suspended former captain Dylan Larkin both have multiple suitors, and the team is actively scouting potential trade partners as it tries to navigate a crowded market. For a club trying to stay competitive while reshaping parts of the roster, the next few weeks could determine whether Horcoff is merely managing a squeeze or making a far more consequential move. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Suddenly Face Real Pressure With Simon Edvinsson
The Red Wings are running out of runway with Simon Edvinsson, and the timing has turned a routine restricted free-agent negotiation into something far more urgent. Detroit needs to get the young defenseman signed by Dec. 1 if it wants him eligible to play in the NHL this season, and the clock is especially loud because Edvinsson is viewed as part of the organizations long-term blue-line picture.
Interim GM Shawn Horcoff has already made clear he does not want to trade Edvinsson, which leaves the front office with one real path forward and not much time to take it. Reports have suggested Edvinsson could be ready to play in Sweden if a deal is not reached by the deadline, a possibility that would only sharpen the pressure on Detroit to settle this before the situation slips beyond its control. [Read more 🡒]