As their free-fall in the standings continues, perhaps to rock bottom after a humbling 7-2 loss Saturday at Philadelphia, the Red Wings suddenly find themselves in a wild-card race with 15 games remaining before the playoffs.
That loss, combined with Boston's 2-0 win at Pittsburgh, reduced Detroit's lead over the fourth-place Bruins to just three points in the Atlantic Division. A few weeks ago, it was 11.
In other words, nobody is talking anymore about catching division leaders Montreal and Tampa Bay. Now it's a matter of trying to hold that evaporating lead over Boston. That's what happens when you lose four out of five games, as the Wings have. Meanwhile, the Bruins have gone on a tear, winning five straight and seven of eight.
"We haven't played with the same energy, the same conviction, the same compete level," Wing coach Mike Babcock said, trying to explain an inexplicable slump that followed a 4-1-1 streak during a brutal Western road trip. "Today was a good example: If you don't compete hard for 60 minutes, it can be embarrassing."
We don't have to wait long to see what this Red Wing team is really made of. They will try to end their worst run of the season Sunday in another nationally televised matinee matchup at Pittsburgh.
Against the rather hapless Flyers, the Wings used the same recipe for failure that's plagued them throughout this recent 2-4 stretch: another slow start in which it looked like they were skating in mud in the first period; woeful defense against a team struggling to score goals; horrible, uncharacteristic giveaways in the defensive zone; and continuing problems on the penalty kill.
Philadelphia scored three goals in four chances with the extra man.
It was the ninth straight game in which the Wings have allowed a power-play goal, and the second time this year they've allowed three goals while playing shorthanded. Once upon a time, penalty-killing was Detroit's strong suit.
"It's amazing," a baffled Babcock said. "It was our greatest strength as a team, and right now it's become an issue for us. We're definitely on our heels. There's a lack of confidence, a lack of being assertive. We're not winning battles. We're not getting clears. We just haven't been very good."
As a result, Detroit's losing streak in Philadelphia is extended to 10 games. The Wings last won there in the Stanley Cup Finals in the spring of 1997.
Justin Abdelkader and Erik Cole scored the Detroit goals. Abdelkader has six goals in his last six games to push his total to 19 for the season. Cole, traded to Detroit a day ahead of the March 2 NHL trade deadline, scored his first as a Red Wing and 19th of the season.
Brayden Schenn scored two goals to lead Philadelphia, which peppered Wings goalie Jimmy Howard with 36 shots. Howard, making his first career start at Philadelphia, made 29 saves but gave up far too many rebounds that his defense failed to clear. And the Flyers made them pay, cruising easily to a win that broke an 0-2-2 streak.
"We're just not executing, for whatever reason," Abdelkader said. "There's no excuse for the way we're playing."
By just about any measurement, this was easily the Wings' worst game of the season, and that sense of urgency they've been talking about this week was nowhere in evidence.
"If we weren't getting their attention," Babcock said of players who speak more about a sense of urgency than they show it, "all we have to do is look at the standings. We're a team trying to get into the playoffs. We've talked about it all year long.
"We had things going pretty good there. We were playing hard, and we've come off it a little bit. In this league, you don't have to come off it very much for things to go the wrong way, and right now things are going the wrong way."
Babcock did more tinkering with his lines and defense pairings in this game than we've seen in weeks. To no avail.
"Everyone's got to dig in," Babcock said before this four-game road trip began. "When we all decide it's urgent enough to dig in, then we'll find a way to win a game."
They're not there yet, obviously. But the latest NHL standings suggest they'd better get there soon.
