Fans of the Detroit Red Wings thought their rock bottom occurred a few weeks ago against the Arizona Coyotes, but Sunday evening, the Pittsburgh Penguins took the Wings to a new low.
Let’s extract eight observations by one of the worst losses of the season.
Some historic lows. Not much to say here. Just look at these tweets that illustrate just how bad this team is right now.
The Penguins are the first team to score 11 goals in a single game in the salary cap era. First team since Washington in 2003.
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) March 27, 2022
As per @SNstats Wings are first team since TB in 1998-1999 to allow 10 goals 2x in a season https://t.co/cnEa6ifT8T
— David Amber (@DavidAmber) March 27, 2022
Red Wings have given up 71 goals in their last 14 games (1 month, 1 day stretch), that's 5.07 goals against per game average over that span. #LGRW
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) March 27, 2022
It’s becoming a theme. Perhaps the biggest issue? This blowout isn’t a one-time thing for Detroit. It’s becoming a reoccurrence. The Wings gave up nine goals against the Coyotes and 10 against the Maple Leafs. This team is playing terribly right now, and there are no signs of better times on the horizon.
The team isn’t playing well for Blashill anymore. At the beginning of the year, it seemed as though Jeff Blashill had saved his job for the time being. Dylan Larkin and the rest of the core played extremely well with the injection of three rookies to the roster – in fact, for a first few months of the season, the Wings were in a playoff spot. However, the Red Wings seem to be on a perpetual backslide since the start of 2022. Based on the sheer number of blowouts, it seems as though the team has started to quit on Blashill.
Terrible defense. Shocker, the defense was bad. You could put this in any article over the past few months.
Terrible goaltending. Shocker, the goaltending was bad. You could put this in any article over the past few months.
Not anywhere near a playoff team. Most fans were aware that there were slim chances at a playoff spot this season, even with the solid opening months. However, a portion of the fanbase held out hope for a postseason for Detroit. At this point, even next year’s playoffs seems nearly unreachable. There are gaping holes on the roster, and when the team’s few core members have an off night, blowouts like the one against Pittsburgh become all too common. Unfortunately, it looks as though Detroit isn’t anywhere near playoff contention.
Schedule doesn’t get much easier. Unfortunately, there are still some tough opponents ahead on the schedule for Detroit. Sure, teams like Ottawa and Columbus aren’t exactly threatening, but the New York Rangers, the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes are also on the schedule. Still not an easy road ahead for the Wings.
Better draft pick? Well, with six games below .500 and a tough road ahead, at least Red Wings fans can start to skim the draft boards. There’s a good chance Detroit will find themselves in a familiar position – picking in the top ten.