The next two games will go a long way toward deciding whether the Detroit Red Wings end their seven-season playoff drought.
They are battling for the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. They'll host the Washington Capitals on Tuesday and visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday -- two of the other teams that also are fighting for their playoff lives.
Detroit (38-31-8, 84 points) collected a 3-1 home win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, just its second victory in the past seven games. The Red Wings did notch a couple more points in two overtime losses during that span.
"We've been staying in the battle," coach Derek Lalonde said. "That's points in four of our last six games, victories in two of our last three, and we're slowly gobbling some points and keeping us in the fight. We've been getting some help around the league, but there's a point where we have to take care of ourselves. We did that (Sunday)."
The Red Wings jumped on the Sabres, scoring three goals in the first eight minutes. The defense did the rest, as goaltender Alex Lyon made 37 saves and the team collectively blocked 27 shots, including 10 by top defenseman Moritz Seider.
Detroit has five games remaining on its schedule but it will be difficult to reach its playoff goal without notching three or four points in the next two games.
"Honestly, I didn't even know we had the Capitals and Penguins coming up," Lyon said. "I knew we had important games. But living in the moment and staying day by day is absolutely crucial this time of year, and remaining calm in crucial situations. You really can't think too far into the future and worry about the past. We have to enjoy this because it's an important part of the process here and (Monday) we have to try to get better and move forward."
Washington (36-30-11, 83 points) could have been in the driver's seat for an automatic berth or wild-card spot. But the Capitals have gone 0-4-2 in their past six games, including a 3-2 overtime loss to Ottawa on Sunday.
"I feel like at certain points of the game, we're really struggling to find our way through momentum shifts," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. "We mismanage pucks in odd situations, and you just can't at this time of year."
Their last victory came at the Red Wings' expense, when Dylan Strome's overtime goal gave them a 4-3 win on March 26.
Carbery has a theory about why his team has put itself in a precarious position.
"One is some young players playing at the end of the year, where the intensity is ratcheted up," he said. "The speed of the game is ratcheted up, and now the importance of the games is ratcheting up. And you can just see we're just gripping the stick, and we're making really poor decisions that are snowballing. And you can probably find about 25 of them that are head scratchers. So that's part of it. And then I think for some of our veteran guys, because they're having to shoulder so much of the responsibility, now they've become overwhelmed, and now they start to do things that are uncharacteristic."
The game on Tuesday will also decide the season series. The Red Wings won the first meeting, 8-3, on Feb. 27.
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