– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY — At least one team inside the Prudential Center could end its season with a good impression on the ice, albeit too late to find itself in the position its opponent was in going into Game 82; knowing there would be a Game 83 and a little bit more.
In their penultimate game of the season, the Detroit Red Wings got goals from Jonatan Berggren, J.T. Compher and Dylan Larkin in their 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils inside the Prudential Center on Wednesday night in what also was the home team’s season finale. Detroit scored once in each of the first two periods before three in the third to see off a New Jersey rally, with Larkin’s goal at the 2:55 mark of the third marking the captain’s 30th tally of the campaign and his fourth consecutive 30-goal season (fifth overall).
Despite racking up their second-most points in a season since 2016-17 (85 points, with one game remaining in Toronto), Detroit officially did not qualify for postseason play for a ninth consecutive season, a sore spot for the Original Six franchise that has won 11 Stanley Cups. They were in a Wild Card position going into the start of March, but proceeded to lose 10 of 14 games in the month that all but put an end to their bid of breaking their playoff drought.
It was three decades ago, in 1995, when the Red Wings reached a Stanley Cup Final for the first since 1966, beginning a near two-decade run at or near the top of the league. That 1995 final saw the Devils defeat the Red Wings in a four-game sweep, also the start of a dominant stretch that saw New Jersey win three Stanley Cups and make four finals appearances in a nine-year span. The past decade has seen the Devils struggle to get back to that form, though New Jersey was able to turn a strong start to this season into a third-place finish in the Metropolitan Division and a date with the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs.
A number of players key to the Devils’ success this season, including captain Nico Hischier and leading scorer Jesper Bratt, sat out tonight’s game along with a few other regulars. (Jack Hughes, the team’s star center, is out for the season after shoulder surgery last month.) The Devils hope to win their second playoff series in three years, as it defeated the New York Rangers in seven games in the first round in 2023 before losing to the Hurricanes one round later.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s game, with photos taken by New York City-area photographer Matthew Last. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are eight pictures in total.
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