MONTREAL — The Detroit Red Wings‘ Stanley Cup playoff chase ended just short of the finishing line.
By the time their game ended in a shootout Tuesday, they already were eliminated. David Perron scored a stunning tying goal with 3.3 seconds to go in regulation, and Patrick Kane scored in the shootout to seal a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. The result ultimately didn’t matter, because the Washington Capitals won their game, and advanced to the playoffs by having the tiebreaker over the Wings (wins in regulation, 32-27).
The Wings have now missed the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons.
They fell behind by as much as 3-1, but whittled away that deficit with goals from Moritz Seider and Joe Veleno through the first two periods. Daniel Sprong, recently a healthy scratch, scored his biggest goal of the season when he angled the puck on net 3:29 into the third period to tie the game.
James Reimer made a huge save on Nick Suzuki near the midpoint of the third period, but Juraj Slafkovksy made it 4-3 with 7:14 to play when his tip finished a nice setup by Holland’s Lane Hutson.
The Wings pulled Reimer just after the two minute mark for an extra attacker, but he was back in net in the final minute. Perron scored his 17th goal when he snapped the puck into Montreal’s net; Shayne Gostisbehere, who set up Raymond’s tying and winning goal Monday, set up Perron.
The Capitals game finished as the Wings prepared for a shootout. Washington won 2-1, scoring a tiebreaking empty-net goal with three minutes remaining as the Philadelphia Flyers pulled their goalie while needing to win in regulation to stay alive in the playoff chase. The Wings held a nine-point advantage on the Caps entering March.
The Wings rallied from a third-period deficit for a 14th time, but still, a long offseason looms.
READ MORE:Yes, Detroit Red Wings put themselves in this playoff hole. But the climb has been amazing.
Sticking with what got them here
Reimer, in net for Saturday’s victory at Toronto, got the start in Montreal. Otherwise, the Wings stuck with the lineup that had gotten them this far, fielding the same skaters that won, 5-4 in overtime, Monday at Little Caesars Arena. The Canadiens had the puck more in the early minutes, but the Wings didn’t lag for long. Alex DeBrincat had an early chance, but his shot was turned away by goaltender Cayden Primeau (son of former Wings forward Keith Primeau, a key cog in the trade that brought Brendan Shanahan to Detroit).
MORE:Red Wings give themselves too much credit for doing minimum in their playoff chase
Even first
The Wings gave up the first goal for a second straight night, with Alex Newhook scoring at 11:32. Patrick Kane chipped the puck around the boards in Montreal’s zone, but Joel Armia got to it before Olli Määttä. The puck ended up on the stick of Brian Gallagher — who scored twice Monday — and a rush ended with Gallagher feeding Newhook for a clean shot. It took until there was just 91 seconds left, but it was big for the Wings to come out of the period tied. Dylan Larkin sent the puck back to Seider, who fired a shot through traffic to make it 1-1.
Stemming momentum
The game certainly bore similarities to Monday’s, in which the Habs built leads and the Wings refused to go away. Gallagher scored his third of this pair of games early in the second period when he got in behind Detroit’s defense and skated to the crease, finishing Armia’s setup. Reimer got a little help from a post when Newhook clanked a shot midway through the second period, but Cole Caufield succeeded to make it 3-1 at 10:09 of the second period. Veleno scored half a minute later when he connected on Gostisbehere’s shot from the point and flipped the puck behind Primeau, who looked like he didn’t know where the puck was.
Contact Helene St. James athstjames@freepress.com. Follow her@helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
First appeared on www.freep.com