Red Wings discuss 7-year postseason drought

The good news for the Detroit Red Wings is that they've accumulated the most points in a season since 2015-16, ironically the last year that they qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The bad news is that drought has now officially carried over into a 7th straight year. 

Last night's loss to the Buffalo Sabres combined with the New York Islanders picking up two points against the Tampa Bay Lightning officially sealed Detroit's fate as being on the outside looking in on the postseason. Inconsistent play against non-playoff teams combined with two devastating player personnel losses just two games into the campaign did Detroit no favors. 

However, despite having to once again watch the annual tournament on television instead of participating in it, the Red Wings aim to keep a positive attitude on the good things they accomplished in the latest year of general manager Steve Yzerman's rebuilding process.

Tomorrow afternoon, they'll have a chance to play spoiler against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, who are fighting tooth and nail to extend their own playoff streak to a 17th straight year.

“What is good is we know we’re getting these teams’ best,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Of late we’ve been playing some teams that are fighting for their playoff lives and it’s made us join the fight or it’s not going to go well. For the most part we’ve done a pretty good job.”

“We’re playing a really good Pittsburgh team fighting for their playoff lives, the superstar power they have, the difference-makers they have,” Lalonde said. “I think there will be more at stake with the fact we beat them last week. I think we’ll get their best and it’ll force us to go to another level with our game.”

Detroit's four victories in the past six games have given some in their fan base a bit of discouragement due to the fact that it hinders the chances of their getting higher odds at a top draft position. But don't tell that to the team, who plans on continuing to try and close out the remainder of the season on a high note. 

“I think our identity is when we’re hard to play against, don’t give up easy offense, we defend first, we take care of the puck, we worry about keeping it out of our net more than putting it in the net and we’ve shown some flashes of that, so I think some positives going forward,” Lalonde said.