WASHINGTON — You could hear Dylan Larkin grappling with two competing realities.
Down the visiting locker room at Capital One Arena, on the heels of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Capitals in a playoff-style game that lived up to every bit of its billing between two would-be-wild cards, the Red Wings captain tried to parse a clearly complicated set of emotions.
Detroit had let a 2-1 lead to begin the third period slip away, and ultimately lost the game. That’ll be the headline Wednesday, along with the gap in the Eastern Conference wild-card race widening from one point to two, with Washington still holding a game in hand.
The Red Wings did not come up empty-handed, with a late Patrick Kane goal sending the game to overtime and limiting the damage by securing one point for the standings. But with only 10 games remaining in the season, against the team they’re directly chasing in the standings, this was not a night the Red Wings could console themselves with that point for the overtime loss.
“The one (point) is big,” Larkin said. “I mean, they got two.”
The Red Wings did play well for most of Tuesday’s game. They got a competitive start, a roaring second period, good goaltending when they needed it, and in general, carried over the more structured game they had displayed in a 1-0 loss to Nashville this weekend. And they did it while adding some offense. That’s how they led 2-1 after two periods.
But where the Red Wings will be kicking themselves Wednesday is the third period — both in letting their 2-1 lead get away, and the opportunities they missed to reclaim it, both in regulation and overtime.
It started less than 30 seconds into the third period, when a Moritz Seider turnover along the defensive-zone half-wall turned into a clean Capitals set-up and then a goal off the end boards for Connor McMichael.
Connor McMichael jams one home at the side of the net for the tying tally, 2-2 game!#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/81qq0W1BDf
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 27, 2024
Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde was especially frustrated with the goal that came next — a Dylan Strome rebound goal immediately off a face-off against Detroit’s Andrew Copp.
“Really disappointed in the third goal,” Lalonde said. “Just, a face-off, man-on-man, I don’t know what our center was thinking. He lost it clean then he left the center, and that’s the guy that banged it home. Like that’s minor hockey. That’s hockey 101. That was hockey 15 years ago, and that’ll be hockey 15 years from now. Just really disappointed in that one.”
In less than five minutes, a lead had turned into a deficit, and a potential playoff edge had turned into desperation time.
Late in the third, Lucas Raymond found Jeff Petry at the back door, with Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren — who was sensational in the win — facing the wrong direction while falling over. Inexplicably, Petry went for a pass to the far post instead of shooting it, a play indicative of the ones the Red Wings left out on the ice Tuesday.
“(He) probably scores that nine out of 10 times,” Lalonde said. “I don’t know what (happened) — maybe he got surprised with how much room and space and net he had, and it just kind of blew up on him.”
“It was just the first five minutes of the third, and maybe gripping our sticks a little too tight, thinking about the moment too much,” Larkin said. “You see a guy like Kaner come back for us and score, (a) guy that’s been through it and played in big hockey games, it’s huge to see.”
Kane’s goal prevented the loss from coming in regulation, which would have created a three-point standings gap, but the missed opportunities were a story unto themselves, and they didn’t end in regulation.
In overtime, Alex DeBrincat had a two-on-one look with Seider, but his pass was in Seider’s skates, the Capitals pounced on the puck, and seconds later Dylan Strome got behind the Red Wings for the game-winner. DeBrincat had a goal, the assist on Kane’s game-tying goal off a strong forecheck, and drew two penalties in the game. But that moment, in a sudden-death situation, will linger along with Petry’s as Detroit goes forward.
“We had some looks,” Lalonde said. “So again, the totality of it, it’s a good road point. It’s just not with the circumstances.”
And right now, those circumstances dictate everything.
Had this been a January game, the Red Wings would be able to take solace in the resilience they showed to come back after blowing the lead, and the fact that the run of play ultimately tilted more in their favor. The all-situations expected goals, according to Evolving-Hockey, were heavily tilted in their favor, at 4.66-2.8.
But the hard reality is, at this point in the season, that no longer means anything. It’s all about the result.
“At this time of year, you can’t leave any plays out there,” Lalonde said.
Tuesday’s game was built up as a pseudo playoff game for a reason, and now Detroit is left to grapple with the implications of losing it. Just 10 games remain on their schedule. They’re still technically within a win of the Capitals, and have a home date with Washington in two weeks.
Their path will only get harder, though, with trips on tap to Carolina, Florida and Tampa Bay before going home to face the Rangers. That schedule is not their friend, nor is the playoff math that accompanies it. And that’s the spot they’ve now put themselves in.
“Just don’t let the moment get too big,” Larkin said after, when asked what he’ll take forward into Carolina. “I think it’s still a hockey game, and yes it’s intense, it’s tighter checking, but you get your chances. I’m guilty of it as well, squeezing the stick. And just gotta bear down and put them in.”
(Photo: John McCreary / NHLI via Getty Images)
