Red Wings-Devils Tweetcap: End of the line

Win and get help, or lose and golf. That was the equation for the Detroit Red Wings as they hosted the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon.

At Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings played the kind of game they have all season long. Detroit took 1-0, 2-1 and 3-3 leads over the course of the first, second and third periods, but managed to surrender three straight 3rd period goals to lose a 5-3 decision to New Jersey.

The loss eliminated the Red Wings from the 2025-2026 playoff chase.

PREGAME: John Gibson and Jake Allen led their respective teams out onto the ice…

The Devils post their lineups early, via the impeccable penmanship of team reporter Amanda Stein:

And the Red Wings listed their lineup just before puck drop:

1ST PERIOD:

The teams dressed the following starters and lineups:

PENALTY: Dougie Hamilton sat for tripping Marco Kasper at 3:09 of the 1st period.

Detroit surged out to a 9-0 shot lead by 8:51 of the 1st period, but the Wings could not dent Jake Allen.

GOAL: Justin Faulk took a nice lateral backhand pass from Dylan Larkin at the Devils’ blueline, skated up hard through traffic and blasted a shot through Jake Allen to make it 1-0 Detroit at 9:41 of the 1st period.

Detroit 1, New Jersey 0: Faulk (15) from Larkin (32) and Finnie (17) at 9:41 1st period.

GOAL: Jack Hughes blazed up the right wing side in on John Gibson 2-on-1, and Hughes shot the puck over Gibson’s pad and under the blocker to tie it 1-1 at 10:40 of the 1st period.

Detroit 1, New Jersey 1: Jack Hughes (27) from Jesper Bratt (49) at 10:40 of the 1st period.

2ND PERIOD:

GOAL: After a long period of Devils dominance, David Perron took a pass from J.T. Compher off a turnover at the Devils’ blueline–facilitated by Carter Mazur’s checking of Brendan Dillon, loosening the puck–and Perron ripped the pass on a one-timer, and it went over Jake Allen to give the Wings a 2-1 lead at 11:59 of the 2nd.

Detroit 2, New Jersey 1: Perron (12) from Compher (18) at 11:59 2nd period.

GOAL: Jesper Bratt cycled up top with Dennis Cholowski and Jonathan Kovacevic, Bratt blasted a shot through three Devils and three Wings’ worth of screening, and the Devils tied the game at 2-2 at 15:16 of the 2nd period.

Detroit 2, New Jersey 2: Bratt (21) from Kovacevic (8) and Cholowski (2) at 15:16 2nd period.

3RD PERIOD:

GOAL: Lucas Raymond stuck with the puck off a Dylan Larkin grab-drop-and-pass at the blueline, Emmitt Finnie jammed at the puck at the top of the crease, and Finnie stuck with it until the puck beat Jake Allen at 7:00 of the 3rd period.

Detroit 3, New Jersey 2: Finnie (13) from Raymond (51) and Larkin (33) at 7:00.

GOAL: Off a weird turnover from Faulk and Chiarot, Timo Meier ripped a slot shot at the net, the puck went off Justin Faulk’s skate and stayed there for Cody Glass to chip the rebound through John Gibson.

Detroit 3, New Jersey 3: Cody Glass (19), from Timo Meier (19) and Jonas Siegenthaler (16) unassisted at 11:18.

GOAL: SIGH. Off a Lucas Raymond centering pass, the New Jersey Devils took advantage of a Simon Edvinsson pinch, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt raced in 2-on-1, Seider could not block Hughes’ pass to Bratt, and the Devils took a 4-3 lead.

Detroit 3, New Jersey 4: Bratt (22) from Hughes (48) and Connor Brown (25) at 16:26 3rd period.

GOALIE PULL: John Gibson exited the net with 2:15 remaining in the 3rd.

GOAL: Dawson Mercer was the beneficiary of a set of passes from Dougie Hamilton and Nico Hischier as the Devils raced up ice 3-on-2, beat the Wings’ D and jammed the puck home to give the Devils a 5-3 empty-net goal.

New Jersey 5, Detroit 3: Mercer (19) from Hischier (37) and Hamilton (25) at 19:00, empty net.

STATISTICS: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

One thought on “Red Wings-Devils Tweetcap: End of the line”

  1. Time to tear it down, starting with GMSY. If the Wings had gone about .500 from March 1 on, they’d be in the playoffs. Instead they went 8-14, with many back-breaking losses against their direct competitors for those last playoff spots. Meanwhile, the Pens managed to sneak in while skating without Crosby and Malkin for long periods. Tired of the excuses, and patience is all but gone.

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