What does a playoff race look like? It looks like sacrifice, which looked like an impenetrable wall of bodies from the vantage point of the Capitals in the third period of their 3-1 loss to the Red Wings Tuesday night. At one point, forward Nic Dowd watched Lars Eller circle the entire perimeter of the zone with the puck "because he had nothing to shoot at and they had five guys laying down," ready and willing to pay the price.
"They did a good job of protecting their goal," said Dowd.
In as big of a game as you'll find in February, the Red Wings blocked more shots (28) than they surrendered (27). Ville Husso took care of all but one of the rest, and Detroit left D.C. with another one of those wins that makes you believe.
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Red Wings had a one percent chance of making the playoffs, according to various projection models at the time. Six wins in seven games later, including four of five on what Derek Lalonde called "maybe the craziest road trip I've ever been involved in" with some 7,000 miles of travel, those odds are up to 32 percent on Hockey-Reference.com.
"We know we can win in this league and we have a team that can win," said Husso. "So it's just day by day, have fun and move on. … I guess we should go on the road more often."
Through 55 games, the Red Wings are on pace for about 90 points, most they've had since the last time they made the playoffs seven years ago. They trail the Panthers by two points and the Islanders by three for one of the two wild card spots in the East, but have four -- count 'em, four -- games in hand on both. By points percentage, the Red Wings (.554) are a playoff team.
The surge feels sudden, but Lalonde, for one, sensed it was coming. Detroit went into the break playing pretty sharp hockey, even if the results had yet to catch up. The Wings have allowed two goals or fewer in nine of their past 13 games, thanks to tight defensive structure and timely goaltending by Husso. And now they've won nine of their past 13, with some extra help on special teams. This is the type of hockey, for this type of team, that Lalonde has been preaching from the moment he arrived.
"We've had that (belief), we've had it for a while now," he said. "Even before this six out of seven we've been on, we've been right there. We've been playing the right way, we've had good buy-in. Now we're just finding ways to manage our game a little bit better and flip some of these tight games."
What does a playoff race look like? It looks like the collective, which looked like two more goals Tuesday night from Pius Suter, including one while short-handed, from the vantage point of Lalonde. Not to mention the first of the season from defenseman Robert Hagg. Detroit's third-line center, Suter had five goals in his first 48 games this year. Now he's got five in his last five. He logged a season-high in ice time against the Capitals after Dylan Larkin was ejected in the first period for a high hit on T.J. Oshie.
"Suter's been awesome," said Lalonde. "Smart, hockey IQ is very high, always has himself in the right position, a little confidence now finishing around the net. We went with three centers down the stretch, and he logged a ton of minutes. Huge boost for us. Anytime you go on a run like this, you're usually getting balanced scoring. And that's what we got on this road trip."
Last time the Wings played without Larkin this season, they were suffocated by the Wild in a 4-1 loss in December. It felt like an indictment of their roster. At best, a reflection of a young team learning a new system. Maybe their reality was somewhere in the middle. As the Red Wings have gotten healthier up front, so have they learned to play as a group. As veteran defenseman Olli Maatta said last week, "When we play as a five-man unit, we're really hard to beat."
Described succinctly by Suter, "Give no easy offense."
It won't get any easier from here. The Red Wings come home to host the Rangers and Lightning, two of the beasts in the East, then hit the road again for a back-to-back in Ottawa. They have a huge game looming on Long Island next Saturday, and a back-to-back with the Bruins, the beasts of the East, the week after that. And nine of their final 10 games come against teams currently in playoff position; the other is against the Sabres, maybe Detroit's biggest threat to one of those two wild card spots.
So no, said Suter. He's "not checking (the standings) every morning when I wake up." The Red Wings know where they are and what they need to do. They can sense themselves "building something," Suter said, "how we play and how we win games." The Red Wings woke up Wednesday in pretty good shape in the East, better than anyone could have expected a few weeks ago. On Thursday, they'll play meaningful hockey in Hockeytown for the first time in several years.
The fans will flock to Little Caesars Arena. The crowd will be clad in red. The building will roar if the Wings win again, and maybe an octopus or two will twirl through the air and splat onto the ice. You're forgiven if you forgot, but this is what a playoff race looks like in Detroit.
Listen live to 97.1 The Ticket via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker
