The Detroit Red Wings had everything in their favor.
They faced off against a depleted Ottawa Senators roster short five defensemen. The Senators were on the back half of a back-to-back series. Dylan Larkin returned to the lineup. It was a home game. By all accounts, this should have been a triumphant victory for Larkin and the team. Instead, the Red Wings collapsed at home in a 3-2 loss to the Senators, moving further and further from the playoffs.
There are countless takeaways from this game, but these four stand out among the rest.
Lack of urgency sunk the Red Wings
The Red Wings were in complete control of their destiny before this game. Yes, they were just one point away from the playoffs, but they were still fighting. Now, the margin of error has shrunk more than it has in months. Worst of all, the team played with no urgency. At no point did the Red Wings look hungry or eager or like they had any sort of fight in them.
If anything, the team appeared disengaged by the halfway point of the second period. The passes were slow, plays were sloppy and nobody seemed keen on shooting the puck. Nothing, from the body language of the team to the scrap between Alex DeBrincat and Artem Zub, suggested that this team hated the thought of losing.
If anything, they seemed used to it.
Lack of awareness stole key goal
Early in the first period, it looked like the Red Wings had scored a big goal. Alex DeBrincat scored on the power play, only to have it waved off by the officiating. Patrick Kane entered the zone before the puck passed through, causing an offsides, nullifying the goal. Kane is 37. He's been in the league for nearly 20 years. At this point, this is the kind of mistake that should have never happened. His lapse in awareness cost the team an early goal and put the Red Wings in a precarious position.
To make matters worse, he seemed a step behind the rest of the roster tonight. He bungled passes, missed the net by wide margins and found hismelf on the odd end of zone transitions more often than not. To be fair, the entire team looked incapable of cleanly entering the zone at any point, but, as a player the Red Wings rely upon, Kane needed to step it up last night.
Anemic power play eroded special teams scoring
The power play, just like the game against the Boston Bruins, was nothing short of ineffective. It was predictable, derivative and easily exploitable. There were even a few instances where it looked like the Senators were about to score a shorthanded goal. Going one for four in the most important game of the season is beyond unacceptable.
The power play unit of Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider should be lethal. Why, then, did it only connect once? Why couldn't the team pull it together when it mattered the most?
Major change is essential this offseason
Whether the team makes the playoffs or not, change needs to happen. The current roster structure and playmaking is unacceptable. There is no reason why a team built like the Red Wings should struggle this much with zone entries. It's baffling to this team fumble a simple passing play in the offensive zone.
This failure doesn't just fall on the veterans, either. Sooner or later, the younger players outside of the Big Three of Seider, Larkin and Raymond need to step up. Marco Kasper's physicality is appreciated, but he needs to show up on the scoresheet more. Emmitt Finnie is solid but inconsistent. In order for this team to get serious about contending, they need to get stronger as fast as possible.
If this team doesn't pull it together, they can kiss the playoffs goodbye.