The Detroit Red Wings were hot heading into Saturday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Meanwhile, the 'Canes were on a three-game losing streak and looking for anything that would help them build momentum.
Detroit couldn't take advantage, and it's why they ended up on the losing end, allowing five goals and 38 shots on goal. It's hard to beat anyone when you allow that many shots while forging just 20 of your own. Fans looking at the 38-20 ratio alone would've guessed how this game turned out.
The Wings squandered their chances, and it wasn't like they weren't trying to start sequences, having won 56.9 percent of their face-offs. That said, it was clear they couldn't do anything with the puck when they got a handle on it.
When you play like that, it's a predictable result, and the Wings need to put it behind them if they want to at least maintain control of the Atlantic Division.
Atlantic Division is up for grabs at midseason and the Detroit Red Wings better realize it
Six points separate the Red Wings from the seventh-place Boston Bruins. Detroit has 47 points in 39 games, and the Bruins have 41 in 39, but that should be the least of the Wings' worries.
The next five teams in the Atlantic have two games in hand over the Red Wings. In order, it's the Tampa Bay Lightning (45 points), Montreal Canadiens (45 points), Florida Panthers (42 points), the red-hot Buffalo Sabres (42 points), and the Ottawa Senators (41 points).
Want more fun? The eighth-place Toronto Maple Leafs also have two games in hand and 39 points. Whether it sounds premature or not, playoff hockey is coming early to the Red Wings and their division rivals. For teams on long droughts like the Wings and Sabres, you can't help but think the stakes are a little higher.
Midseason player check-ins from two unsung heroes for the Red Wings' season
Bob Heyrman discussed not one but two players on Saturday before the Wings' showdown with the Carolina Hurricanes. He talked about Andrew Copp (21 points, 4 goals in 39 games), and how effective his play still is here at midseason. Copp had been struggling for a while now in Hockeytown, but he may've finally found his niche on the second line.
He also talked about James van Riemsdyk, and how the aging forward has helped revitalize the Wings' depth scoring. He's not the player he was, but van Riemsdyk is starting to look like that 20-goal scorer again. Maybe he'll end up getting back there as the latter half of the season approaches.
If the Wings want to avoid another debacle like what happened on Saturday night, they'll need more unsung heroes. So, the question is: Who's stepping up and taking charge? Maybe we'll find that out when the Wings take on the Maple Leafs on Sunday night.