lordstanley

Wings host Ottawa tonight, now just a point up on the Sens with the same number of games played. 12 games left for both. Wings need to stay ahead of the Sens and beat out one of the five underlined teams below in order to make the playoffs. Best hopes for help tonight are probably Carolina and Colorado. Games to watch tonight and hope for losses: Toronto at Boston (2pts up on Detroit, same number of games played) Carolina at Montreal (2 pts up on Detroit, one game in hand on the Wings) Chicago at NYI (1 pt up on Detroit, one game in hand for the Wings) Columbus (1 pt up on Detroit, same number of games played) at Philadelphia Colorado at Pittsburgh (2 pts up on Detroit, same number of games played) Buffalo, Tampa and Carolina are now well beyond reach of the Wings and not worth tracking. Philadelphia (4 pts behind Detroit, one game in hand on the Wings) and Washington (5 pts behind Detroit, one game in hand for the Wings) are the least of the Wings' troubles.

Yes, I was saying that to a friend yesterday. The Wings picked Larkin #16 overall. The Wings picked Kasper #8, Danielson at #9, MBN at #15 and Bear at #13. The success of the rebuild is dependent upon one of those four turning out as well as Larkin and another of four turning out as well as a Mantha/Bertuzzi/Nyquist. If instead they end up like Svechnivkov (#19), Cholowski (#20), Rasmussen (#9), Zadina (#6) then we are doomed. Given that Yzerman hit on 3 straight - Seider #6, Raymond #4, Edvinsson #6 - I am cautiously optimistic, but those all were higher picks.

Weird situation is that I actually like how the Wings have played the past four games but their playoff position has never been worse. I've gone from "how high can the Wings be seeded" to "can they hang onto home ice for the 1st round" to "can they hang onto a playoff spot" to "do they have enough time with Copp and Larkin to outplay and outpoint a couple of teams for a spot".

Much has been made of the injuries to Larkin and Copp, rightly so especially at this key time. But I think overall the Wings have had good injury luck. 2C missing 3 games is hardly calamitous. Through 70 games: Seider 70 DeBrincat 70 Chiarot 70 Compher 70 Kasper 69 Raymond 68 Copp 67 Larkin 63 Edvinsson 60 So of what I would say are the Wings' 10 most important players, only Kane at 55 has missed a bunch, and that's to be expected with a 37 year old. Maybe add Edvinsson to that.

The Wings have gone 6-8-3 for 15 points in the past 17 games starting January 27. That's a 44.1% points percentage. For the entire season, the only team with a points percentage lower than 44.1% is Vancouver with 36.2%. Here's the position of the Wings on January 26 vs other conference teams compared to today: Tampa: Was 1 pt behind, now 7 points behind. So from -1 to -7 Carolina: Was tied, now 12 points behind. So from 0 to -12. Buffalo: +6 to -11 Pittsburgh: +6 to -2 Montreal: +6 to -2 Boston: +6 to -2 NYI: +8 to -1 Philadelphia: +12 to +4 Washington: +12 to +5 Columbus: +14 to -1 Ottawa: +14 to -3 The only teams in the East the Wings have more points than since January 26 are 3 points more than Florida and 1 point more than Toronto. The only team in the West the Wings have more points than since January 26 are 5 points than Vancouver. That's it. They've played like a bottom 5 for a stretch as long as 1/5 of the season.

The Montreal and Boston were played tightly with the Wings expecting to win or lose 2-1 or 3-2. They don't trust ASP's defense in situations like that.

Yep. Islanders beat Columbus in regulation. Wings in 9th in place in points - 1 pt behind NYI with a game in hand. Wings also 1 pt behind Columbus with same number of games played. Wings need to finish ahead of either NYI or Columbus (or Pittsburgh or Boston or Montreal) while staying ahead of Ottawa, Philly and Washington.

How big of a joke is the Pacific division. Anaheim the division was off last night but with 80 points would be tied for 11th in the East. The other 7 Pacific last night? Vegas, LA Kings, San Jose, Seattle and Edmonton all lost by 3 goals, Vancovuer lost by 2 goals and Winnipeg lost in OT. So 0-6-1 on the night.

Islanders play 10 of their 12 remaining games at home though.

Wings played well enough to win but coming out with 0 points after leading in the 3rd is a bitter pill.

Boo! Bruins will get only their 2nd road win in their past 11 road games, the first in regulation since mid-January.

Boston penalty shot …saved!

Swayman has been the difference in the game.

Uh-oh, bad turn of events. Gibson lets in a softie and the Wings trail.

Bad attempted clear by Faulk and we are tied.