The Detroit Red Wings were officially eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention with Saturday evening's 5-3 loss to the Devils, marking their 10th straight year of not playing beyond the 82nd regular season game.
The Detroit Red Wings came into their centennial season with understandable expectations, and by late January, they appeared well on their way to comfortably earning a postseason spot.
However, as has been the case in recent years, they unraveled when the calendar flipped to March, lost their points cushion, and struggled to close out games.
They came into Saturday evening's contest against the New Jersey Devils with no choice but to earn two points if they wanted to keep their faint playoff hopes mathematically alive.
But following yet another third-period collapse, their fate was officially sealed.
Devils forward Jesper Bratt scored his second goal of the game with 4:34 left in the third period, breaking a 3-3 tie en route to a 5-3 win at Little Caesars Arena.
With the loss, the Red Wings were officially eliminated from postseason contention and now own the NHL's longest postseason drought at 10 years.
It's a startling fall from grace, considering that they were tied for first place in the Eastern Conference on January 12.
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Once again, the Red Wings were beaten by a team that was outside of the playoff picture and were unable to protect a third-period lead. Almost equally as concerning, the Devils held a 25-15 shots advantage over the game's final 40 minutes.
Detroit struck first in the opening period, as defenseman Justin Faulk found the back of the net. But just 59 seconds later, Devils forward Jack Hughes tied the contest on what was New Jersey's first shot of the game.
While David Perron scored just past the midway point of the second period, the Devils responded soon afterward thanks to a shot from just inside the blue line from Bratt, the first of his two goals; former Red Wings defenseman Dennis Cholowski picked up an assist.
Rookie Emmitt Finnie gave the Red Wings the lead with 13 minutes left in the third period, banging home a loose puck with a backhander past goaltender Jake Allen and giving the sellout crowd reason for enthusiasm.
However, New Jersey once again knotted the score after Cody Glass picked up a garbage goal in front of the net. Hughes then broke in on a 2-on-1 rush with Bratt, who slipped the puck past a diving John Gibson for what proved to be the game-winner.
The Red Wings pulled Gibson for an extra attacker, but weren't able to find the equalizer. The Devils secured the victory thanks to an empty-net tally from Dawson Mercer.
Gibson finished with 28 saves, while Allen made 25 saves.
While the Red Wings still have two games remaining on their regular-season schedule, their hopes of ending their postseason drought came to a close.
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