Red Wings lament missed opportunity in Stadium Series loss to Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS -- The Detroit Red Wings remain in a Stanley Cup Playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but they failed to pad their lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets with two losses to them in three days, including 5-3 in the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium on Saturday.

The Red Wings entered Thursday two points ahead of the Blue Jackets for the first wild card from the East but now sit two points behind them after getting outscored 10-5 in the two regulation losses. Columbus won the first game 5-2 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

"We've been here before, and there's experience that we gained through that," Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. "I said it yesterday: We control our own destiny. And we played well. We deserve better. We get back in the game. We got to find a way. … And that's a tough one, tough for us."

Detroit outshot Columbus 46-21 and had an 84-45 edge in shot attempts, but it wasn't good enough for a point.

The Red Wings trailed 3-1 in the third period before Patrick Kane made it 3-2 at 3:34 and Alex DeBrincat tied it at 16:36 with his second goal of the game. However, the Blue Jackets took the lead just over a minute later when Justin Danforth scored on his own rebound at 17:43.

"Tonight, I thought we played pretty well," said Kane, who had a goal and two assists. "The compete was there, energy was there, you could tell we were going to come back. ... The vibes were great, but just didn't get done. So obviously, we need to be better in those like game-winning type situations to make a play here or there, play it safe and make sure we're at least getting a point in those situations, especially when you come back. It's almost even more disheartening to lose that way."

The Red Wings have lost four of six (2-3-1) following a seven-game winning streak and are hoping it's not a repeat of last season, when they lost 15 of their final 23 games -- including losing streaks of seven and four games -- and missed the playoffs for the eighth straight season. They finished tied with the Washington Capitals in points but had fewer regulation wins, which was the tiebreaker.

"It's tough. Everybody knows how important those points [are]. It [stinks]," Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson said. "It was a great setup by Ohio, NHL, Columbus. What a game it was. Of course we wanted to get out of here with two points. Not today. It didn't happen."

Kane said he was happy with the effort, which could help the Red Wings' confidence moving forward, but it was difficult not to earn at least one point.

"There was great vibes tonight on the bench, even down 3-1," Kane said. "We get ourselves in that situation, that just builds confidence that we can come back if we're down one, two, three goals, that we can come back in those situations and tie it up. Obviously would have loved to get at least a point tonight. But like I said, it comes down to play here or there. Obviously they made one."

With 22 games left, the Red Wings are hoping that the two-game slide will not extend to three. They next play Tuesday, when they host the Carolina Hurricanes.

"I think we know we can come back,” DeBrincat said. “And obviously, we did, and a weird bounce and weird play ends up in the back of our net. But we've had stretches that we've played very good. I thought for most of the game, we played well too. ... We've got to regroup and come back ready to play (on Tuesday).

"It would have been better with a win, but [it’s] something I'll remember, and a lot of fun out there. … It was a cool experience."