"Really Disappointing": Red Wings' Season On The Brink After 5-4 Loss To Wild

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The 5-4 loss suffered by the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild may prove to be the one that hurts the most in what has been a string of disappointing setbacks.

The Red Wings, who trailed entering the third period 4-1, mounted a furious comeback rally attempt to knot the score at 4-4. But a careless penalty from veteran Patrick Kane, who had tied the game just minutes earlier, proved disastrous.

Star forward Kirill Kaprizov completed his sixth career hat trick on the ensuing power-play with 1:51 left in regulation, breaking the 4-4 stalemate with what proved to be the game-winner.

For the sixth time in their last eight games, the Red Wings walked away with zero points in the standings. That setback, combined with the victory by the Ottawa Senators over the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes later in the day, put a serious dent in Detroit’s fading playoff chances.

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Even more disappointing was that the Red Wings managed just eight shots on goal through the first 40 minutes of play, while their undisciplined puck play led to prime chances for the Wild, which they converted.

“My thoughts, I guess to put it gently, is it’s really disappointing,” explained head coach Todd McLellan afterward. “Fifteen seconds in (after the start of the second period), we win a draw, and we’re getting scored on because we, what word do I use, lollygag around and don’t advance the puck.”

“So now it’s in our net, and our team right now, as soon as it doesn’t go our way, we crumble for a while, and then we pick ourselves up off the mat, but it’s too late, and we did it again today. Pattern.”

While Detroit struck first shortly after the opening puck drop, it was their only shot on goal for the first 14 minutes of the opening frame. When the Wild led 4-1 late in the period, it marked the fifth time in their last seven games that they had trailed by at least three goals.

Despite the valiant comeback effort, it proved for naught after Kane’s needless penalty, in which he tripped Quinn Hughes well away from the play, that ultimately proved to be the difference.

“It hurts, it hurts,” McLellan said about that play. “We get the comeback, and we take a penalty 150 feet from our net, not even in the play. It hurts.”

Time is quickly running out for the Red Wings, who will own the NHL’s longest playoff drought if they fall short this season, now that the Buffalo Sabres have ended theirs.

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