Red Wings get major help in the standings despite loss to Lightning
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The Detroit Red Wings remain in a Wild Card playoff spot as of the final day of the NHL schedule before the 4 Nations Faceoff thanks to some outside help.
The Detroit Red Wings may have lost yesterday's game 6-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning thanks to several woeful defensive miscues and questionable goaltending in the 1st period, but the news wasn't all bad for the day.
Thanks to some outside help, the Red Wings remain in a Wild Card postseason spot as the NHL pauses for the 4 Nations Faceoff.
The Vegas Golden Knights took down the Boston Bruins in regulation; the Red Wings have two games in hand (meaning they've played two fewer games) on the Bruins, who remain a single point behind in the standings.
The Montreal Canadiens have also now lost consecutive games in regulation, first on Saturday to the New Jersey Devils and then today to the Lightning. They remain 6 points behind the Red Wings.
Additionally, the Ottawa Senators remain only a point ahead of the Red Wings in the standings; they were beaten 5-1 by the Florida Panthers.
Other than Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, who will be playing for the United States and Sweden in the 4 Nations Faceoff, the rest of the Red Wings are off until February 22.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman said he believed the team could compete for a Wild Card spot
During his press conference in which he explained the reasoning behind parting ways with coach Derek Lalonde in late December, Yzerman said that he came into this year with the expectation of at least being a Wild Card playoff team.
My expectation at the start of the year, if everything went well here with our team, everyone stayed healthy, everybody performed up to expectations, I think with this group we could compete for a wild card spot, and we're not there.
Thanks to a 15-5-1 run under Todd McLellan, the Red Wing are in fact "there" in a Wild Card spot as of now.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 9 | 165 ANSWERS Red Wings get major help in the standings despite loss to Lightning Will the Red Wings maintain their Wild Card playoff spot when the NHL schedule resumes later this month? | ||
| Yes | 148 | 89.7 % |
| No | 17 | 10.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
