Kane penalty may have just cost Red Wings the season

The Detroit Red Wings entered this past weekend with their playoff hopes on the line. They emerged from the weekend with a back-to-back regulation losses. First, the Wings dropped a 4-1 stinker to the lowly New York Rangers.

But it was Sunday’s game, one that could have vaulted the Wings back into a playoff spot, that pretty much doomed their season.

On Sunday, it seemed like the Wings were ready to pack it in. Down 4-1 in the third, the Red Wings mounted a wild comeback that culminated with veteran star Patrick Kane tying the game with about six minutes to go in the third.

Kane’s 15th of the season seemed to breathe life back into the Red Wings. The three-time Stanley Cup champ came through as he had done so many times in the past.

But it was Kane who sealed Detroit’s fate on Sunday. His outrageous tripping penalty late in the game led to a Minnesota power play. Sure enough, Kirill Kaprizov scored with a little under two minutes to go.

The Wings lost in regulation and pretty much doomed their playoff hopes. When fans and media look back at this season, they’ll pinpoint that exact moment when Kane tripped up Quinn Hughes for no apparent reason.

Sure, this season’s failure goes beyond a single moment in one game. But that ridiculous Kane penalty will be remembered as the play that cost the Red Wings the season.

A victory would have pulled the Red Wings even with the Ottawa Senators at 90 points apiece. The Wings would have leapfrogged the New York Islanders, and, with a game in hand, could have controlled their destiny.

Instead, Red Wings fans are left to wonder what could have been going on in Kane’s head when he got his stick between Hughes’ legs.

Kane’s dumb penalty could set Red Wings back several years

The reverberations of Kane’s penalty and the subsequent Red Wings defeat on Sunday could set the organization back several years.

In particular, the setback lies in the path forward. Making the postseason this year would have ushered in a new era of optimism in Detroit. The playoff appearance would have emboldened management and ownership to make more aggressive moves this offseason.

A playoff miss, in contrast, would signal to the organization that something is not right. In a sense, the organization would need to go back to the drawing board and figure out what changes need to be made.

Rather than pursuing complementary pieces for the team’s young core, the offseason discussion will focus on accruing more assets and prospects to continue bolstering the organization’s future.

To compound matters, the Red Wings don’t have a first-round pick this year. They sent that pick to the St. Louis Blues in the Justin Faulk trade.

That’s the way it’s been for the Red Wings this season. If the Buffalo Sabres are an example, Red Wings fans will need to wait another half-decade before seeing a return to the playoffs.

The longer the wait continues, the more Patrick Kane’s penalty on Easter Sunday 2026 will become magnified.