If you're a hockey coach on thin ice, beware the Red Wings -- or the Winged Reapers.
Craig Berube could attest. So could Dean Evason.
The Blues fired Berube, who led the team to the Stanley Cup in 2019, Tuesday night after they fell 6-4 to the Red Wings for their fourth straight loss. Detroit was playing without its top two centers Dylan Larkin and J.T. Compher and wingers David Perron and Klim Kostin and wiped out a third-period deficit on the road.
Berube was one of the longest-tenured head coaches in the NHL, in the midst of his sixth season with the Blues. Now he's out of a job.
So is Evason, who was fired by the Wild last month after they fell 4-1 to the Red Wings for their seventh straight loss. (Ironically, the Wild turned around under new head coach John Hynes and beat the Blues in their next game.) Evason was in the midst of his fifth season with the Wild, who hadn't missed the playoffs under his watch.
The Red Wings, meanwhile, keep plugging along under Derek Lalonde. They got a much-needed win Wednesday night with a depleted lineup and, despite a recent skid, remain 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. They got goals from six different players against the Blues, including defensemen Moritz Seider and Jake Walman and recent call-up Jonatan Berggren, and some timely saves in the third from Ville Husso.
The Wings are fourth in the Atlantic, between the Maple Leafs and Lightning, with 34 points in 28 games, a playoff-worthy pace should they sustain it.
