Red Wings go from emotional high to ‘gutted’ on wild final night
The Detroit Red Wings were euphoric when David Perron scored with five seconds remaining in the third period Tuesday to tie the game and keep hope alive.
Minutes later, there was little celebration after Patrick Kane scored the shootout winner for a 5-4 victory over Montreal.
The Red Wings knew their fate by then. Washington had defeated Philadelphia 2-1 to clinch the second wild card spot and Detroit was eliminated from the playoffs before the shootout even began.
“That was the most excited I’ve ever been in my life for about a quarter-second,” goaltender James Reimer told media at the Bell Centre. “When we scored in the shootout and I saw none of the guys were excited I knew what our fate was. Honestly, it’s a very odd feeling. I think that’s kind of the case anytime your season comes to an end. It kind of felt like a Game 7 the whole day and the whole game and obviously right now it feels like we lost it. It’s a tough feeling.”
The Red Wings (41-32-9, 91 points) made an 11-point improvement from last season but have missed the playoffs eight consecutive seasons, the longest drought in franchise history. It came down to the first tiebreaker and Washington had more regulation wins (32-27).
“It’s hard, it’s gutting. We’re pretty sad in here,” Dylan Larkin told reporters. “We have a great group of guys, great fun year and to see it come to an end like that is very sad, very hard.”
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