David Perron and the Detroit Red Wings seemed like a lock for the Stanley Cup Playoffs just a couple weeks ago. Detroit held on to the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference by a comfortable margin. A late-February rout of the Washington Capitals had fans in Hockeytown truly buying in.
However, the Red Wings have now lost six games in a row. And many of these games have not been close. In fact, Detroit has allowed four goals or more in each of their last six games. Furthermore, they’ve lost by four or more goals in four of those six losses. Detroit no longer possesses a playoff spot as a result.
For Perron, this sort of losing streak seemed inevitable. And perhaps signs of the slump showed even as they blitzed through the league in January and February. “I think at times during the last six-game winning streak, we weren’t playing as good as it seemed,” Perron said, via NHL.com.
“Everyone was pumping us up, and I had some conversations with people — coaches, others, players. I just felt like we were outscoring our problems, and at one point, it was going to turn around and bite us a little bit, and it did. It’s just the reversal of it right now.”
Lucas Raymond, Ben Chiarot highlight growing Red Wings frustrations
David Perron may have felt Detroit wasn’t playing to the best of their potential. But the losing streak has still hit Detroit hard. This was on full display on Wednesday when forward Lucas Raymond and Ben Chiarot had to be separated in practice. The two got into a shoving match and barked at each other for a minute.
Head coach Derek Lalonde believed the fight could be “productive” for his team. Defenseman Moritz Seider also believed the scrum is more of a positive for the team than a negative. “I think it’s good to be frustrated,” Seider said, via NHL.com. “It’s not OK to lose anymore.”
As of now, the Winged Wheel finds themselves tied on points with the New York Islanders. New York holds a game in hand over the Red Wings, giving the Isles a leg up in the standings. Detroit has a chance to rebound against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday. They’ll certainly need a better effort if they want to maintain their playoff hopes. Let’s see how David Perron and the Red Wings respond.
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