It took the Red Wings 36 minutes to find their footing in a game between two teams that were trying their best to clinch a playoff berth to each other.
However, once they had won, Detroit continued their momentum by defeating the Islanders 6-3 at Little Caesars Arena, extending the Isles’ losing streak to six, a loss that hurt more than any other team.
Heading into Thursday, the Islanders could have erased most of the damage from their past five games with a win.
If they get out of that, they will be five points out of the playoffs with 13 games left in the season, with not only the Red Wings but also the Capitals ahead. Although this difference is not insurmountable in theory, it is difficult to see. Like a real big climb.
At 13:25 of the second game, Mike Riley’s tying goal was followed by a power play by the Islanders, and the game appeared to be turning in the visiting team’s favor.
But not only did the Islanders fail to score for the third time on the night at 5-on-4, but right after the power play expired, Ilya Sorokin handed off Christian Fischer’s rebound to Andrew Copp for the go-ahead goal of his own. Ta. They pushed it in unimpeded and took a 2-1 Detroit lead.
At just 2:08, at the end of a long shift in which the Islanders couldn’t get out of their zone, Dylan Larkin unprotectedly wandered into the frame and made a one-timer off a feed from Alex DeBrincat for a 3. -1. It completely swung the flow of the game in the Red Wings’ favor.
Impossible. It keeps happening.
And instead of showing some resilience in the third period, the Islanders’ desperation appeared to be on life support.
Just over five minutes into the third period, Copp made it 4-1, coming off a 3-on-2 break in which the Islanders’ forwards showed no interest in backchecking.
Moments later, Patrick Kane easily converted a feed from Alex DeBrincat to make it 5-1.
Impossible. It happened again.
