RECAP: 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs out of reach for Red Wings after 5-3 loss to Devils

DETROIT – With a 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday night, in what also marked their 2025-26 regular-season home finale, the Detroit Red Wings were mathematically eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.

“When we went to Training Camp, we had three goals in mind,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “One was to get physically harder to play against. The second was to build up the resilience and the mental toughness, and the third one was game management. I thought we were making gains in those areas, but since the Olympic break, we didn’t have much of that, and it ended up costing us."

Goaltender John Gibson made 27 saves for the Red Wings (41-30-9; 91 points), who have just two regular-season games remaining. At the other end of the ice, netminder Jake Allen turned aside 25 shots for the Devils (41-36-3; 85 points).

"Those games in February and March, you have to accumulate points as much as you can, and I said that earlier this year,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “We put ourselves in a good spot, but we didn’t get the job done.”

The Red Wings got off to a good start, boasting a 9-0 shot advantage through the first 10 minutes before they went in front 1-0 at 9:41 on Justin Faulk’s third goal in as many games – a sequence that began with Emmitt Finnie picking off Timo Meier’s pass in the neutral zone before he sent it to Larkin in front of the Devils’ bench. Larkin then fed Faulk on the rush, and the 34-year-old blueliner snuck a wrist shot through Allen’s five-hole from the right face-off circle.

Only 59 seconds later, New Jersey was able to capitalize on its first shot of the night – Jack Hughes sent a wrister from the middle of the right face-off circle under Gibson’s left arm – to tie things up 1-1.

“The first goal and fourth goal were identical,” McLellan said. “We have a D that pinches down and we have some coverage, but not proper coverage. They score on rush, 2-on-1. That was a real important part of the game and an important part of the pre-scout.”

At 11:59 of the second period, David Perron was in the high slot when he one-timed J.T. Compher’s pass top shelf past Allen to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. It was Perron’s 12th goal of the season and second since rejoining the Red Wings via trade from the Ottawa Senators ahead of this year’s NHL Trade Deadline.

The Devils once again responded, as Bratt wristed a shot from distance that found its way through traffic into the back of the net to tie it 2-2 with 4:44 remaining before the second intermission.

“I didn’t think we skated real well today,” McLellan said. “That’s a good skating team. We just didn’t skate real well. We didn’t have a lot of pop in our legs, and we were second to a lot of things. That’s what I saw, anyhow.”

Seven minutes into the third period, Finnie’s 13th goal of the season gave Detroit its third one-goal lead of the night that would end up being its last. The 20-year-old rookie forward put a rebound of Raymond’s shot through Allen’s legs to make it 3-2. Larkin also picked up a secondary assist on the play.

Three unanswered goals by New Jersey -- Cody Glass scored at 11:18, Bratt netted his second at 16:26 and Dawson Mercer found the back of an empty net at 19:00 – sealed the 5-3 final and, unfortunately, Detroit’s postseason hopes.

“We had a clear goal coming into this year, and we didn’t do it,” Raymond said. “We had plenty of opportunities throughout this season, especially down the stretch here, to seize different moments.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will face off against the Tampa Bay Lighting at Benchmark International Arena on Monday night.

WHAT WAS SAID

McLellan on how things unfolded over the last two months

“You’re out by 20 points, you’re out by five points – no matter how you get there, it’s hard. It’s hard on everybody, but if you really want to move forward, you got to take a step back and look at what we did or didn’t do.”

Larkin on seeing their lead slip in the third period

“They’re a transition team, and that fourth one is on me. I’m covering for [Simon] and pinching there, and two of those guys jump by. It’s completely my responsibility to stay back and cover for the D.”

Larkin on if he can point to what happened down the stretch this spring

“I can’t point to it. Right now, I just keep thinking about that fourth goal. Maybe a little bit of that – untimely mistakes and seems to be different guys, but I can’t make that mistake at that time of the game at that time of the season.”

Raymond on lamenting recent missed opportunities on home ice

“Every game you miss out on you regret. It’s been too many years where we’ve been right there and just haven’t been able to get it done. We got to figure it out and we got to figure it out fast, and take that next step.”