Some fans will claim it's still early in the season and the games aren't meaningful yet, but don't let star defenseman Moritz Seider hear you say that. Even with just 14 contests in the books, Seider knew how important of a contest Tuesday night's loss in Vegas was for the Detroit Red Wings.
Following the game, Seider said, "We won the road trip, but I think we had a lot more on the line. Tonight was a very meaningful game and unfortunately, we just couldn’t get it done. It’s (Vegas) a very good team that plays very good defense. I think, in the end, we just didn’t work hard enough for our chances.”
Seider gets it. In a division where tough teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Florida Panthers are still looking for and will find their respective grooves, the Red Wings need to treat every game as if the playoffs are on the line.
Toronto, Tampa, and Florida are too good to hang back outside of the top three for long, and at some point, they will challenge the Wings, the Boston Bruins, and Montreal Canadiens for one of those top three spots every time they take the ice. If the Wings don't understand this as a group, then it's going to be a lot harder to break that nine-year playoff drought.
Moritz Seider went beyond talking about meaningful games
It's also worth noting that Seider also said, "We just didn’t work hard enough for our chances.” That's something else the Red Wings needed to hear. When you get blanked on the scoreboard, generate only 24 shots on goal, win 33.9 percent of your face-offs, land 10 body checks, and fail to log a single takeaway against a team like Vegas, you played like a team that didn't even want to be there.
Seider is surely holding himself accountable, too, and he could have thrown the entire team under the bus even more, considering how lazy they looked on the ice. For the Wings, the message should be clear: Go out there on Nov. 7 vs. the New York Rangers, play with a sense of urgency in front of your home crowd, and show that you moved on from that debacle in Vegas.
If you don't, then you're going to let Toronto, Tampa, and, when Matthew Tkachuk returns to the Panthers and gives them a spark, catch up on you real fast. The focus, right now, needs to be pulling away from who have been the Atlantic's heaviest hitters in the late 2010s and 2020s, while looking to keep pace with the resurgent Montreal Canadiens. That means playing meaningful hockey, game in and game out.
Seider was right to talk about meaningful games and work ethic
It's great to hear Seider saying this, as it speaks volumes for how much of a cornerstone he has transformed into with the Red Wings. He needs to keep up with the accountability. Stay vocal until the message sinks in for the Wings. Then when it sinks in, get even more vocal.
If the Red Wings want their 100th season to be the year when they break this playoff drought, then there needs to be accountability in practice as much as there is during games. Leaders like Dylan Larkin have stepped up and are doing that job, and it's always great to have players like Moritz Seider jumping in, too.
We'll see how the Red Wings respond to that ugly road trip finale in Vegas. And if they fall short again, don't be surprised when Moritz Seide echoes the statements he made on Tuesday night. They can't take another game off.