“We can’t worry about what other teams do or whoever we have after Detroit,” Werenski said. “Our focus just has to be on Detroit, and after that, we’ll figure it out.”
The Blue Jackets (38-27-12) were last in the East when they replaced Dean Evason with Rick Bowness as coach Jan. 12. They went on a 19-3-4 run afterward and rose to second in the Metro, but they’ve gone 0-5-1 since.
After a 2-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, the players called a meeting.
“Yeah, I’ll just keep our conversation in here,” Werenski said. “We’re a better team than what we’ve shown, and we just talked about it.”
Werenski said the players weren’t on the same page and operating as a five-man unit. Bowness pointed to “terrible puck management” and said the players must change their mindset. Stop trying cute plays, turning over the puck and playing on your heels. Start making simple plays, get the puck north and generate offense off the forecheck.
“They’re frustrated, and I get that,” Bowness said. “But don’t ever think they don’t care, and don’t ever think they’re not trying. They are. We need some better efforts without a doubt, and we’re going to get them. This is a proud group. I’ve said from Day 1 I love working with them. I still believe in them.”
The Blue Jackets haven’t made the playoffs the past five seasons. Forward Mason Marchment said they must believe in each other no matter what happens in a game.
Has the pressure gotten to them? Werenski said no. Bowness left open the question.
“Time will tell on that, right?” Bowness said. “So, here we are. We’re still in it. We’re still in the fight. … We’ve had plenty of opportunities to help ourselves, and we haven’t. So, is that not handling it well? Well, we’re going to find out, right?”
There is no doubt that the pressure has gotten to the Red Wings.
“It feels a little heavy, for sure,” Copp said. “… That’s on us to not let it creep in. In this day and age, it’s pretty hard. We’ve got to channel some fun. We’ve got to channel some jam.”
The Red Wings’ playoff drought sits at nine years, the longest in their 100-year history -- and the longest active streak in the NHL now that the Buffalo Sabres have ended their 14-year drought this season. For the third straight season, they’ve stumbled down the stretch. Detroit (40-29-8) was tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the East on Jan. 25 and have gone 8-13-3 since. The Red Wings have been up and down from game to game and within games.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the first period against the Minnesota Wild at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday, they fell behind 4-1 in the second and got booed off the ice at the intermission. They tied it 4-4 in the third, and the rink was rocking again. But after scoring the tying goal, veteran Patrick Kane inexplicably stuck out his stick and tripped defenseman Quinn Hughes at 16:23. The Wild capitalized with the winner on the power play at 18:09.
“It hurts,” coach Todd McLellan said. “We get the comeback, and we take a penalty 150 feet from our net, not even in the play. It hurts.”
