The Detroit Red Wings seemed to have the perfect schedule, with a three-day break between games on their current four-game road trip before Saturday night’s visit to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Who couldn’t use a few days off in sunny Las Vegas during the middle of March Madness?
But a 4-1 loss at Washington on Tuesday put the kibosh on any potential pool time for Todd McLellan’s squad. Instead, the Red Wings (32-30-6, 70 points) — who trail Montreal by four points for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference — returned home for a pair of practices before heading out west for a key stretch that will see them play three games in four nights.
“Like every other team, we haven’t had a lot of practice time,” McLellan said. “This is it. From now until whenever, this is really it. If you’re lucky enough to get in and play in the playoffs, you get two or three days off to prepare and then you’re focusing on a single team.”
The Red Wings, who are just 2-8-0 over their last 10 games, did get a day off Wednesday before practices on Thursday and Friday.
“This break in the schedule, a few days with the day off and a couple practices, is a good mini-reset,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “I think we had a positive skate (on Thursday). Guys looked good and like they had energy. I hope (Friday) is even better, then we’re on the road. Pretty much a sprint to the finish.”
The game with Pacific Divison-leading Vegas (40-20-8, 88 points), which is three points ahead of Edmonton, kicks off a difficult stretch for the Red Wings. Detroit then plays a back-to-back at altitude, starting Monday night against the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City followed by a Tuesday contest with the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.
Vegas comes in off an impressive 5-1 victory over the visiting Boston Bruins on Thursday, behind a hat trick by Pavel Dorofeyev. That helped to erase the bitter taste of a four-game Eastern trip that saw the Golden Knights lose three times, including a lackluster 3-0 loss at Detroit on Sunday.
“It was a tough road trip for us and traveling back home,” said Vegas forward Brandon Saad, who had two assists against Boston. “It was nice to have a few days to kind of regroup and recharge. We did a good job of making a statement (Thursday).”
No one made a bigger statement than Dorofeyev, who hit the 30-goal mark with his second career hat trick.
“He put in a lot of work this summer,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He’s progressively gotten better through our organization. That’s usually a tell of a guy that’s working. It’s not just luck one year. He’s earned it. He’s done a lot of the right things. He’s doing things that will lend itself to success in any environment.”
Dorofeyev became the fifth player in Vegas history to score 30 goals in a season, joining Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson, who both did it twice, along with Jack Eichel and Max Pacioretty.
It’s the first game of a back-to-back for the Golden Knights, who host Tampa Bay on Sunday night before departing on a three-game road trip to Minnesota, Chicago and Nashville.
–Field Level Media
