Sometimes, it can be hard to pinpoint where everything went wrong in a season. In the case of the Detroit Red Wings, though, there's one game in particular where the wheels came off the proverbial wagon.
On March 6, 2026, the Red Wings faced off against the Florida Panthers. Midway through the third period, captain Dylan Larkin went down, his leg bending the wrong way. He was quickly taken off the ice and would not return the rest of the game.
But it wasn't this game that doomed the 2025-26 Red Wings.
No, the game that doomed the Red Wings took place just four days after Larkin's injury. With the captain out for an unspecified amount of time, Andrew Copp stepped up to the plate and assumed the de facto 1C role. At this point in the season, Copp had 37 points in 65 games -- one of his best season in his time with the Red Wings.
Midway through the game, Copp exited the game with an injury.
The Red Wings went on to a 5-10-3 record after Copp went down, missing the playoffs for the tenth consecutive season.
Red Wings fell apart when it mattered most
To be fair, it's extremely hard to win in the NHL without your first and second line centers. Still, the Red Wings had the fewest man games lost in the NHL at that point in time. While insiders revealed later that much of the roster was playing injured, what happened following Copp's injury was the first of many nails in the coffin for this season.
The Red Wings entered the third period up 2-1 against the Panthers. Five minutes into the game, though, Niko Mikkola scored a goal that tied the teams up. Frustrations quickly stymied after Marco Kasper's breakway brough the Red Wings up to a 3-2 lead again. The Red Wings, once again, looked relaxed and ready to end the game with a win.
Unfortunately, that relaxation would soon be their downfall. The longer the game went on, the more passively the Red Wings played. Aggressive zone entries became lax dump and chase hockey. Icing calls increased. With 1:30 left in the game, the Panthers pulled their goalie. Carter Verhaeghe fired a wrist shot from traffic, deflecting off the post into the net, tying the game for the Panthers.
At this point, the Red Wings should have locked in and taken the game to overtime. The worst case scenario was that, at the very least, they could secure an overtime point.
The Panthers had other plans. Rather than let the game head to overtime, Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk worked together to secure a goal with just 15 seconds left in the period. The Red Wings, despite holding the lead three times in the game, lost in regulation and failed to secure even a single point.
Red Wings loss to Panthers a microcosm of the season
This was and remains the difference between teams like the Panthers and the Red Wings. The Panthers entered the game without Aleksander Barkov (their first line center), Sam Reinhart (their leading scorer) and Brad Marchand (their second-highest scorer). Rather than let injuries define their roster, they pushed onward, showing just why they have a championship-caliber team.
Had the Panthers not suffered a rash of injuries, they likely would have been Stanley Cup contenders this season. The Red Wings, during the final two minutes of their game, showed just how far they are from legitimate contention. Rather than fight for their injured centers, the team collapsed. Apart from good games from players like Marco Kasper and Justin Faulk, the team showed no desire to actually win the game.
This, in turn, was a microcosm of how the rest of the season went for Detroit.
They continued to fail to meet the moment. They didn't hustle when it mattered the most. Again and again they fell apart until the final nail in the coffin (ironically against the Panthers of all teams).
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