Red Wings' Playoff Push: Make or Break

0:00On March 27th, the Detroit Red Wings face a make-or-break stretch with just the leaven games left in the regular season. There are three points behind the New York Islanders for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and two points back of the Ottawa Senators, with a couple games in hand to help close the gap. A win Friday night against Buffalo could spark the push they desperately need to end their nine-year playoff drought, the longest in franchise. History. This is a new territory for Detroit. Over the past two seasons, they build strong mid-season leads only to collapse down the stretch, missing the playoffs both times. This year started even better. They were tied for first in the east on January 25th, ten points clear of the cut line, but they've gone just six. Wins, nine losses, and three overtime losses since, dropping to 28th in the league and points percentage during that slump. Players and coaches feel the weight of it all. Defense men more at citer stress that the team knows how bad it feels to fade, and now it's all on them to grind out points no matter the opponent.

1:03Captain Dylan Larkin returned from injury but couldn't lift them in a recent home loss to Ottawa, leaving everyone frustrated and mad at themselves, for correctable mistakes. The front office tried to bolster the roster before the trade deadline, adding defensemen Justin Falk and for David Perrin, but neither has. Produced the much yet, recent games highlight the issues, blowing third-period leads against Vegas and Florida for minimal points, and a sluggish effort Tuesday where they fell behind early and couldn't recover fully. With their overall points percentage still solid, the best since General Manager Steve Iserman took over in 2019 Detroit has shown. Resilience before, but crunch time is testing it like never before. They need to play loose yet detailed to flip the script and punch that playoff ticket. This has been NHL News Today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with The Story.