‘We gotta stay in the fight’: Red Wings' Pacific Trip Brings Opportunity to Boost Playoff Positioning

In a competitive Eastern Conference, every point matters as teams chase a wild card spot. The Red Wings’ four-game Pacific trip offers the chance to build some leeway.

All points are equal, but some points are more equal than others

That’s not to get Orwellian on the NHL standings — although old George would probably have something to say about the salary cap. Rather, it’s a reflection that in the NHL, each point matters more than another. If Detroit beats San Jose, those points aren’t exactly as rare a commodity as beating, say, Vancouver, like the Red Wings did Saturday. And that logic is especially true against division and conference opponents, where every regulation win is really a four-point net swing.

So packing for its four-game Pacific trip that starts at Edmonton on Tuesday, Detroit has an opportunity to pad its point total before the Eastern Conference matchups roll along. Locked in a tight race with multiple foes, the Red Wings can earn points on the road now that can alleviate some pressure later.

“I was getting some of those questions today — ‘do you scoreboard watch?’ ” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said Monday. “There’s no need. You know where it’s going to be. Too many good teams around there that just want to continue to win. It's just the division and conference we’re in.”

Lalonde estimates that his team needs at least 96 to 100 points to earn a playoff bid. Right now, Detroit has 60 with 31 games left, so it needs to eclipse the .500 line from here on out. As it stands, Moneypuck projects that Detroit has a 56.1% chance of making the playoffs.

The road to doing so is arduous, no doubt, and it offers no rest areas. Coming up on the Pacific trip are four opponents who offer uniquely difficult matchups. Edmonton is coming off an even hotter January than Detroit. Vancouver proved fallible Saturday, though Detroit took overtime to vanquish it. Calgary, known for being streaky as of late, is on a four-game heater. And Seattle, the weakest of these opponents on paper, just made the second round last playoff and is clawing from behind to make it back there. All that is to say, these teams know how to win. There will be no gimmes.

“It’s gonna probably be similar to our last couple of road trips where we just gotta play the right way,” Lalonde said. “We gotta stay in the fight. We gotta give ourselves a chance to battle and claw every point we can.”

That’s why building up a proverbial nest egg matters on this trip. If the Red Wings can get a decent share of the points available this trip, they can alleviate some of the pressure down the line. Considering the four-point swing that an Eastern Conference win or loss brings, winning out West comes without such mathematical significance.

Road trips also matter because of the confidence they can bring, and the Red Wings know the effect. When they swept their California trip to kick off 2024, they kickstarted the 9-2-2 January that put them right back in playoff contention. Ditto for a trip down south that saw the Red Wings beat Florida in overtime before losing a close one to Carolina.

“We just had a recent South swing there that just because of the nature of the opponent — Florida, Carolina — it’s tough to get points out of ‘em,” Lalonde said. “And we were fortunate enough to have a pretty good trip and it got us in this battle and this will be one of those. So I think we're just in it now and every game is vitally important.”

The momentum drawn from a successful Pacific trip might not only set the table for a playoff run, but set the expectations for what they can get for an extended period of time.

To be clear, road games in general haven’t been a guaranteed hit for Detroit — they’re 12-10-1 on the road this season including 4-3-0 against the Western Conference. But all that really matters now is whether they can bank points on this road trip to reach toward the estimated playoff line. Doing so against the Oilers, Canucks, Flames and Kraken won’t be an easy feat, but it’s an opportunity worth clawing for.

Because some points might be more equal than others, but the most important ones are those Detroit can earn.

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