Red Wings March 2026 Games Thread

[lordstanley]

Bad attempted clear by Faulk and we are tied. 

[lordstanley]

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

[lordstanley]

Swayman has been the difference in the game. 

[Jason_R]

Ugh. A two minute 5 on 3 and a penalty shot. 

[lordstanley]

Boston penalty shot …saved!

[buddha]

sadness.

[lordstanley]

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

[lordstanley]

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

[GalagaGuy]

Well, at least we're still a point up on the Islanders.  Boston and the Islanders have a tougher remaining schedule so there's still a good enough chance to finish in front of one of them.  

[lordstanley]

5 hours ago, GalagaGuy said:

Well, at least we're still a point up on the Islanders.  Boston and the Islanders have a tougher remaining schedule so there's still a good enough chance to finish in front of one of them.  

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

[GalagaGuy]

5 hours ago, lordstanley said:

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

Looking at the Islanders record, there's not much of a difference with their success at home vs on the road.  That's pretty much what you find with most teams these days.  Funny thing, Boston happens to be the team that really jumps out in the standings with their 26-9-1 home record vs 13-14-7 on the road.   Down the stretch, home ice isn't going to mean much at all.  

[slothfacekilla]

 

 

[slothfacekilla]

 

Larkin game time decision tomorrow

[slothfacekilla]

 

 

[lordstanley]

3 hours ago, slothfacekilla said:

 

 

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. 

[1984Echoes]

Just needs to get some ice time and GR is the perfect place for that...

[Dan Gilmore]

Ice time and 15+ pounds of muscle.

[1984Echoes]

I'll see your 15+ pounds of muscle...

And raise you "simply more dedication on/to the defensive end".

[Jason_R]

The fact that ASP made the team out of camp was partly an indication of how much talent he has, but it was also an indication of a lack of depth at the blue line. Especially now that Faulk is here, ASP needs to go to Grand Rapids, get some heavy ice time, and get some playoff experience. 

[slothfacekilla]

 

 

[lordstanley]

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. 

 

 

[slothfacekilla]

Honestly what made those injuries feel so devastating for me was that it was right after the trade deadline, seemed like cruel timing.

[lordstanley]

4 minutes ago, slothfacekilla said:

Honestly what made those injuries feel so devastating for me was that it was right after the trade deadline, seemed like cruel timing.

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".

[Jason_R]

18 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

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. 

 

 

All true. The most alarming thing in my view is that they are the only legitimate contender in the East that has allowed more goals than they have scored. They are a -3 as of today.

Defensively they have been solid, tied for 5th in the conference for goals allowed but they are one of the lowest scoring teams in the East. 

None of this is a surprise. There is a reason they’ve been on the outside. They’ve tightened up their team defense a bit this year, going from about 3.2 goals allowed per game to under 3. Offense hasn’t been much better, though. 

This season was always about internal growth. I believe Stevie was in on Thomas and Pettersson at the trade deadline but believes his options would be better in the offseason. I expect he will get one forward this offseason who will move the needle. This season they will scratch and claw to get in. 

[gehringer_2]

1 minute ago, Jason_R said:

They’ve tightened up their team defense a bit this year, going from about 3.2 goals allowed per game to under 3.

I think the goaltending improved more than the team D, but I think they finally do look better with Faulk. Apart from the injury callups, they still have too many place holders - Rasmussen, Copp would be a good 3rd or 4th line center but you need more than 9 goals from your #2 center. Kasper makes his presence felt on the ice in some ways, but he's not contributing enough to putting pucks in the net. Kane still makes the occasional 'only Kane can do that' play, but in general is no longer a dominant presence on the ice at all. van Riemsdyk seems to have faded away. 

They basically have Larkin, Cat and Raymond as forwards who make you notice when they are on the ice - that's about it. But even more than a 'star', they need three more guys at least at a Copp level. Maybe Danielson Kasper, and MBN will get there but it would be nice if they would hurry.