Detroit Red Wings complete fall, eliminated from playoff contention
Detroit Red Wings score: A late goal by the Devils sealed the Wings' elimination from playoff contention for the 10th straight season.
The Detroit Red Wings knew they could not be eliminated from the 2026 playoff race by external forces when the puck dropped on their final home game of the season. That left internal forces as the Wings hosted the New Jersey Devils, already reduced to a draft lottery team, at Little Caesars Arena in a matinee on Saturday, April 11. All the Wings needed was one point, but even at that, they failed, falling 5-3 as boos echoed from the stands.
The Wings (41-30-9) stayed at 91 points, and with that, their playoff drought reached 10 years, the longest active streak with the Buffalo Sabres qualifying earlier this month. Emmitt Finnie scored a go-ahead goal seven minutes into the third period when he stuffed a backhand shot into the net, finishing Lucas Raymond's hard work getting the puck to the crease. The Devils leveled that when Cody Glass drilled the puck past John Gibson with 8:42 to play – and then took the lead when Jack Hughes set up Jesper Bratt's second goal of the game, off a rush, with 3:34 to play.
The Wings pulled Gibson with about 2:20 to play for an extra attacker. Dawson Mercer scored with a minute to go. ON THE BLUE LINE: It's always sunny with Moritz Seider, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Detroit Red Wings playoff picture, such as it was The Wings were helped when the Boston Bruins lost in regulation to the Tampa Bay Lightning to stay at 96 points with two games left.
The Bruins have 31 regulation victories and 39 regulation or overtime victories, which are the first two tiebreakers. The Bruins next play Sunday against Columbus Blue Jackets and Tuesday against the Devils. The Senators, on the other hand, defeated the New York Islanders to reach 96 points, with two games left (Sunday against the Devils, Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs).