Red Wings in danger of missing playoffs amid collapse

The Detroit Red Wings were living their best life after an 8-3 win over the Washington Capitals on Feb. 27.

That victory gave the Red Wings a 33-20-6 record, good for 72 points with a little over a quarter of the season remaining. They were in the Eastern Conference's first wild-card spot, three points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning — who were in the final wild-card position — and eight points ahead of the next-closest team.

That was only a little more than a month ago, but it seems far longer than that to Detroit because of its 4-10-2 record since. 

As far as points are concerned, the Red Wings (37-30-8) have 82, the same as the Capitals in a tie for the final wild-card spot after Monday's games. But because Detroit has played two more games — 75 to 73 — Washington is officially alone in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and Detroit is ninth, on the outside looking in with only seven games remaining in its regular season.

Not only that, but the Red Wings are only three points ahead of the 10th-place New York Islanders, who have played one game less than Detroit.

Detroit has not made the playoffs since 2016. This was not officially a Stanley Cup playoffs-or-bust kind of season, but the rebuilding Wings would show a significant amount of progress by making the postseason.

A playoff berth would take a lot of pressure off of general manager Steve Yzerman, who has held that position since spring 2019, although Yzerman is in no danger of losing his job. 

But that's certainly not the case for coach Derek Lalonde.

The Red Wings' atrocious team defense, horrible puck management and repeated slow starts during their slide reflects horribly on Lalonde, who is in his second season behind the Detroit bench.  

According to Detroit Hockey Now, Yzerman recently read Lalonde and the players the riot act. That same story cited a rumor that former St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup-winning coach Craig Berube — now a studio analyst for TNT — is a candidate to replace Lalonde if the Red Wings miss the playoffs for an eighth consecutive season.

Things are certainly different than they were a little over a month ago, and the consequences could be significant if the team doesn't start winning again.