DETROIT — The Red Wings host the Ottawa Senators Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena. Their playoff hopes are dimming, but until the bell of mathematical elimination tolls, the Red Wings have no option but to fight desperately to push themselves to the front of the wild card fray.
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In assessing Detroit's two-part, four-game road trip from Washington to Vegas, Utah, and Colorado, coach Todd McLellan spoke to the obvious and paramount importance of results by this time of year. "Effort and drive and all those things are real important but wins have to come out of it, based on where we're at right now, and we didn't get enough of those on the road trip, so we're gonna rely on these two games here at home to try to fill the bank up for points that we didn't get [on the road]," he said.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of tonght's game:
Injury Updates
First, let's review the Red Wings' health situation heading into the evening. Andrew Copp and Erik Gustafsson remain out (the former's season definitively done, the latter's likely the same). Meanwhile, Elmer Soderblom (who suffered an injury in Detroit's loss to the Capitals to open the road trip, missed the Golden Knights game in Vegas, returned to play Utah but suffered a knock that kept him out against the Avalanche) remains unavailable, per McLellan.
Goaltender Cam Talbot—who was not healthy enough to play Tuesday night against Colorado—will be healthy enough to back-up Alex Lyon Thursday. McLellan did not yet have an update on Petr Mrazek (injured in Utah) but said the netminder will be evaluated further Thursday afternoon.
Finally, per McLellan, Detroit is still waiting on official confirmation but Jeff Petry (who returned to the lineup for the firs time since Jan. 2 against Utah, then missed the following night's game against the Avs) should be available to return to the lineup Thursday night.
Top Line Tarasenko Looking to Spark Raymond, Larkin
As the Red Wings look to spark their sputtering offense from the top down, McLellan promoted Vladimir Tarasenko to the top left wing role, beside Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin.
"If they play well, they'll be the top line," McLellan said to explain the decision. "He's gonna play with Razor and Larks, and we'll determine who that top line is at the end of the night, but he's gonna get his opportunity to go up there."
"We're trying it this way now, where Razor and Larks have not scored at the same pace that they've scored at in the past, and Vladdy's kind of been in that mix, so we're throwing all three together now," the coach continued. "When you look at their résumés, you look at what they've done and the way they can play, they should be a real good line. It'll be a real good challenge for the three of them to play together and find a way to be productive."
Raymond and Larkin were held scoreless in Utah and Colorado, and both players have struggled to sustain their best form since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off. When asked Thursday morning about Raymond and Larkin's recent performances, McLellan spoke to the importance of that duo at least creating chances, even if they can't convert every night.
"Everybody's games kind of ebb and flow, and they've had some nights where they have been productive," said McLellan. "They've had nights where they've had great scoring opportunities and it hasn't gone in, and they've just had some dry nights. If it's one of the first two [kinds of] nights, we have to live with that. The dry nights where there's not much going on, we have to find ways to get them to be catalysts. There's pressure on both of them of course. They're looked at as our offensive leaders and leaders overall. This time of year, that pressure can be immense, so they have to handle that as well. Expectations are high for the pair and for them as individuals."
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Detroit Knows Ullmark Poses Stiff Test
The Red Wings last saw the Senators earlier this month in the Canadian capital. Detroit fell 2–1 that night, despite putting 49 shots on goal, thanks to a standout performance in net from Linus Ullmark and another lackluster performance from the Red Wings penalty kill.
Thursday morning, McLellan pointed out that Detroit can and should take positives from its performance against the Senators in Ottawa but also that the clear imperative for his team is finding a way to beat Ullmark.
"We're gonna refer back to the game that we played in Ottawa, and we'll try to take the same approach," McLellan said. "I'm sure they'll have a much better night. They've played with some confidence since that day or prior to it. Their goaltending has been really elite in the last few weeks, and Ullmark's given them a chance to play through some patches in games where they haven't played real well or it got ugly for a few shifts, and he's been able to bail them out. To beat that team, I think you have to get rewarded during those minutes, and we didn't in Ottawa."
The Red Wings have only scored more than three goals once in the month of March. Meanwhile, Ullmark has won seven of his last 10 games for the Sens. It won't be an easy task for Detroit to break out of its offensive slump Thursday night, but it's what the Wings will have to do to keep their already dwindling playoff hopes alive.
Cossa Remains an Emergency Only Option in Net
One final topic of note to emerge from Thursday morning's skate was the status of Sebastian Cossa.
Detroit called up the 2021 first round draft pick under emergency conditions to back-up Tuesday night in Colorado, with Talbot and Mrazek both injured. Cossa took part in Thursday morning's skate, but with Talbot back healthy, he will return to the Grand Rapids Griffins.
"The emergency conditions will see to exist once Cam [gets healthy], so the simple answer to that question is no, unless we get into an emergency situation again," said McLellan, when asked whether there was a chance to see Cossa start for Detroit down the stretch. "That's just the way it goes now with roster moves."
The Red Wings could recall Cossa under non-emergency conditions to make that happen, but based on McLellan's answer, it doesn't sound as though that's happening. Between acquiring Mrazek (to have a second NHL goaltender under contract for the '25-26 season along with Talbot) and this response from McLellan, there is some reason to believe some of the Red Wings' faith in Cossa has faded slightly over the course of the season. That's speculative, and there's certainly time for Cossa to change their minds, as it would of course be foolhardy to write off the 22-year-old already. However, we do have two data points that suggest a slightly bearish outlook on Cossa's future.
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