ST. LOUIS — For a team that plays five of its last six games on the road, their latest performance stacks up as both inspiring and deflating.
The Detroit Red Wings, home for the next two games, played well against St. Louis, but that wasn't enough to gain more than one point in the standings.
"Hopefully that one point will be huge," Moritz Seider said after the Wings lost, 2-1, in overtime to the Blues at Enterprise Center. "But it’s really hard realizing that now because it feels like you lost one, for sure."
The Wings (34-33-7, 75 points) at most can reach 91 points, matching last season's point total, and that's if they go 8-0 down the stretch.
They were 29 seconds from winning in regulation Tuesday when the Blues made it 1-1 and dented what ended up being a superb, 35-save performance by Cam Talbot.
J.T. Compher, who gave the Wings a lead early in the third period, called it, "brutal. We played a really good road game for a long time. Talbs played out of his mind, gave us a chance to win. They’re able to squeak one in late and steal that second point from us."
By the time the Wings game ended, the Montreal Canadiens had pulled off a rally to win, opening up a four-point lead on the Wings, and the Columbus Blue Jackets also won to stay points ahead.
"We know what’s at stake," coach Todd McLellan said. "It’s not the fact we gave up a point to an opponent, it’s just we didn’t get the point.
"They’re a tough team to handle. We put ourselves in a position to win and then with about 3:40 left, we iced the puck, we’re tired, and out comes the goalie. And we just couldn’t find a way to hit the open net at the other end or finish the night. It’s disappointing. But the effort was pretty good. But, we were on the short end of the points. We’ve got to suck it up and get going at home night."
The Wings host the Carolina Hurricanes Friday, and the Florida Panthers Sunday. The last thing the Wings can afford to do is feel sorry for themselves after coming so close to winning consecutive games for the first time in more than a month only to come up short.
"We can either feel sorry for ourselves, which I don’t think is a great option, or we ...
