Wings routed, but stay 2 points back of playoffs
The Detroit Red Wings can thank the Toronto Maple Leafs for still being only two points out of a playoff spot.
On the same night the Wings suffered a 4-0 loss that was as much self-inflicted as it was delivered by the Carolina Hurricanes, the Leafs downed the Washington Capitals, who occupy the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Wings' outing Thursday at PNC Arena was the third on a five-game trip that continues Saturday at the Florida Panthers. The Wings (36-30-7) have just one point so far on the trip, and seven points over their past 14 games, giving them 79 on the season with nine games to go. The Capitals have 81 points and 10 games remaining, and the New York Islanders' victory Thursday bumped them to 77 points; they also have 10 games left.
The Hurricanes clinched a playoff berth with a commanding performance led by their stars.
No Kane, 'Canes pounce
The Wings, on the other hand, were without top-six winger Patrick Kane and fourthline center Austin Czarnik, both dealing with illness. Daniel Sprong returned after spending the previous three games as a healthy scratch, and Justin Holl also played as the Wings had to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
The Wings missed Kane and Czarnik and it showed from the get-go. They struggled to generate much of an attack, and the Hurricanes were able to push the Wings to the
outside. When a Wings player did attempt to put the puck on net, a Hurricanes player was
there for the interception.
The Hurricanes dominated on faceoffs, winning 65% in the first period. The result was a 10-0 edge in shots to Carolina around the midpoint of the first period, and 15-4 at the end of it. Among James Reimer's saves was stopping an up-close attempt by Carolina's Jake Guentzel.
The Wings began the second period killing off the 1:33 left on a penalty to David Perron, which didn't help with the effort to create offense. The Hurricanes took advantage of a defensive error to move ahead, 1-0, five minutes into the second period, when Jeff Petry crossed over to help limit Guentzel's time and space, only to have Guentzel set up a wide-open Sebastian Aho. Guentzel and Aho combined to set up Seth Jarvis on a power play while Petry was off for tripping Guentzel. Martin Necas took advantage of another wide-open scoring chance to make it 3-0 midway through the second period.
Whatever faint hope the Wings had of rallying was effectively extinguished when Brady Skjei connected on a puck that had bounced out front off the end boards, and sent it five-hole on Reimer. Aho and Jarvis each collected a third point of the period on that goal.