In that span, they rank 28th in the NHL in points percentage (.417). Though they are 11th in goals against per game in that stretch (2.83), they’re 31st in goals per game (2.22), 29th on the power play (13.0 percent) and tied with the Vancouver Canucks for 28th on the penalty kill (73.3 percent).
They made two additions prior to the NHL Trade Deadline on March 6, acquiring defenseman Justin Faulk from the St. Louis Blues and forward David Perron from the Senators. Faulk has two points (one goal, one assist) in eight games. Perron, who was recovering from sports hernia surgery at the time of the trade, didn’t join the lineup until March 14 and has no points in five games.
They still have a .592 points percentage overall and remain on track to have their best record since Steve Yzerman became general manager April 19, 2019. But it still might not be enough.
Too many points have slipped away. Three recent examples: a 4-3 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on March 4, when Detroit had a 3-1 lead in the third period and got one point out of it; a 4-3 loss at the Panthers on March 10, when they had a 3-2 lead with 90 seconds left in regulation and got no points out of it; and a 3-2 loss to the Senators on Tuesday.
Ottawa was playing the second game of a back-to-back on the road and missing five defensemen due to injuries, while Detroit was rested at home. The Red Wings had a power-play goal disallowed after video review found the play was offside, then gave up a power-play goal to fall behind 1-0 with 2:45 left in the first period.
“You could feel it a little bit, the tension,” coach Todd McLellan said. “We’ve got to get over that. There’s going to be bad things that happen to our team, and we’ve got to recover. We’ve shown the ability to do that throughout the year. But now in crunch time, can we maintain that resilience? It’s getting tested, and it’s going to keep getting tested.”
They fell behind 3-0 after making the kind of “correctable” mistake that has plagued them. After Detroit cleared its defensive zone, center Marco Kasper brought the puck back into it, and the puck ended up in the Red Wings net.