Red Wings eliminated from NHL playoff picture with 5-3 loss to Devils
DETROIT (AP) — Jesper Bratt’s scored his second goal with 3:34 left in the third period, helping the New Jersey Devils eliminate the Detroit Red Wings from the NHL playoff picture with a 5-3 win on Saturday. Detroit extended the league's longest active postseason drought, dating to the 2016 season when the franchise earned a berth for the 25th consecutive season in what was a remarkable run that included four Stanley Cup championships. The Red Wings were in a playoff position for 148 days of the season, according to Sportradar, to raise expectations higher than they've been since the hockey-crazed state has experienced the playoffs a long time ago.
They went ahead against New Jersey in the first, second and third periods — and lost every lead. On an odd-man rush, Bratt scored the go-ahead goal from the left circle off a perfect pass from Jack Hughes in the right circle with John Gibson flailing around in an attempt to stop the puck. Dawson Mercer added an empty-net goal with a minute left.
Gibson had 27 saves for the Red Wings and Jake Allen stopped 25 shots for the Devils. Detroit’s Justin Faulk broke a scoreless tie midway through the opening period. Olympic hero Hughes , playing about 25 miles from where he skated in high school at USA Hockey Arena, scored his 27th goal of the season a minute later.
The Red Wings went back ahead on David Perron's goal with 8:01 left in the second period, but failed to keep the lead again. Bratt scored a game-tying goal, giving him at least 21 for a fifth straight season. Emmitt Finnie scored a tiebreaking goal seven minutes into the third to put the Red Wings ahead again, but Cody Glass pulled the Devils into another tie midway through the period.
Up next Devils: Host Ottawa on Sunday. Red Wings: At Tampa Bay on Monday. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.