Multiple Former Detroit Red Wings Are In The Playoffs This Season
· Yahoo Sports
For the 10th consecutive season, the Detroit Red Wings were unable to earn a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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Not only is it officially the longest drought in team history, but it's also now the longest active drought in the NHL, thanks to the Buffalo Sabres finally breaking through for the first time since 2011.
Multiple clubs that didn't make the postseason in 2024-25, like the Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, did so this spring, while the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, two of Detroit's top Atlantic Division opponents (along with Buffalo), qualified for the second straight season.
Adding insult to injury is seeing so many former Red Wings, who played with the club as recently as last season, that are now getting a taste of playoff action.
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Speaking of the Sabres, goaltender Alex Lyon, who set a new Buffalo team record (breaking the mark previously set by Dominik Hasek) with a 10-game winning streak, is back in the playoffs after spending the last two seasons with Detroit.
Lyon, who signed a two-year contract with the Sabres last offseason, accumulated a 20-10-4 record while posting a 2.77 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage, and three shutouts in his first season with Buffalo.
Staying in the Eastern Conference, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been getting contributions from forward Elmer Soderblom, who was never really able to put it together with Detroit.
He was dealt to the Penguins at the Trade Deadline last March, and has already shown multiple flashes of being a reliable power forward that isn't afraid to use his hulking 6'9" frame, understandably drawing frustration from Red Wings fans for his hesitancy to do so while with the Red Wings.
Additionally, goaltender James Reimer, who played one season with Detroit in 2023-24 and spent last season with the Sabres, returned to the playoffs with the Ottawa Senators, with whom he signed after being released from his PTO tryout with the Maple Leafs in the fall.
Moving to the Western Conference, former Red Wings Vladimir Tarasenko and Jeff Petry are back in the playoffs as members of the Minnesota Wild. Tarasenko, who managed only 11 goals in his first and only campaign in Detroit in 2024-25, more than doubled that output with the Wild, scoring 23 times.
Petry, who signed with the Florida Panthers last offseason, was dealt to the Wild at the Trade Deadline.
Goaltender Ville Husso, who was traded by the Red Wings to the Anaheim Ducks last season as part of the Petr Mrazek trade, is the backup to Jakub Dobes in Anaheim's first playoff appearance since 2018.
Mrazek, who was then flipped to the Ducks from the Red Wings during the summer, underwent season-ending surgery in late February.
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