Red Wings, Bruins playoff push struggles continue with losses

The Detroit Red Wings streak of making the playoffs took a hit Tuesday night in a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. 

Detroit has made the playoffs 24 straight seasons, but that streak appears to be in serious jeopardy.  

After entering the third period with a 3-2 lead, the Red Wings saw their advantage evaporate. First Sven Andrighetto tied the game on the power play at the 6:34 mark. Then Max Pacioretty fired the game-winner at the 11:18 mark of the third. 

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According to the Detroit Free Press, coach Jeff Blashill used the words “disappointing” and “frustrating” about the loss. 

“We’ve got to be tighter than that defensively,” Blashill said.

Goaltender Petr Mrazek was yanked after allowing two goals on his first seven shots faced

“I thought we played decent in the first couple of shifts,” captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “I thought we worked hard and they get that first goal, deflection goal, and the second one. It’s hard to be behind like that, early.”

Even though the Red Wings are technically tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for the final Wild Card spot with 87 points, Philly has two games in hand.

Fortunately for Detroit, the Boston Bruins also lost, 2-1 to the New Jersey Devils. Boston and Detroit have both played 77 games and the Bruins have 88 points.

Boston couldn’t overcome a red-hot Keith Kincaid who stopped 39 of 40 shots on goal to help New Jersey seal the win. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask faced only 15 shots on goal, but let in two scores. The Bruins have lost six of seven games.

“You can look at it whichever way you want, but you got to look at yourselves and blame yourselves for this loss,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “You can say you tried, but at this time of year it’s not good enough. The situation that we’re in, we expect better from ourselves.” 

The Red Wings and Flyers play each other on April 6, then Detroit will play the Bruins on April 7.

According to Sports Club Stats, the Red Wings playoff chances dropped 7.5 percent to 43.0 percent with the loss. The Bruins dropped 4.1 percent to a 76.7 percent of punching their postseason ticket. 

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper