The New Jersey Devils have officially wasted the 2025-26 season. When they lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, that officially ended their path to the postseason. That hasn’t stopped the Devils from putting their best foot forward, at least sometimes.
On Saturday night, the Devils had a chance to make another team feel that pain. They welcomed an opportunity to take on the Detroit Red Wings. With a regulation loss, the Red Wings would be out of postseason contention. It was a perfect storm of spoiler hockey.
The Wings came out on fire. They took the first 10 shots of the game, with the last one being a Justin Faulk goal. We’ll get to him in a moment.
Less than a minute later, the Devils finally got their first shot of the game, and Jack Hughes sniped one past John Gibson on the far side. Hughes has been on fire as of late, and that continued with another multi-point game. He now has 75 points on the season, the second-highest point total of his career.
The Red Wings took leads in the second and third periods, but the Devils tied it each and every time. Eventually, they got the go-ahead goal with 3:34 left in the game. Jesper Bratt took a Hughes pass on a 2-on-1 and lit the lamp.
Dawson Mercer added another empty-net tally to his stat line, and that was that for the Red Wings’ season. They have now extended their playoff drought to 10 years. With the Buffalo Sabres making the playoffs this season, the Red Wings hold the longest active playoff drought in the league.
The Devils have been TERRIBLE as a franchise for the past 10 seasons, but they have at least had three playoff appearances. Detroit is in the worst stretch of its franchise history.
It's about time to end the Yzerplan, and the Devils put the nail in the coffin
The Devils taking out the Red Wings on Saturday might have long-term impacts on the franchise. The team on the other side of their first Stanley Cup win could be going in a different direction.
Steve Yzerman was hired by the Red Wings in the 2019 offseason after building the Tampa Bay Lightning. While Tampa went and won multiple Stanley Cups with the roster Yzerman built, he was trying to rebuild the franchise that made him famous. They had some pieces in place, but they needed a better direction.
While Yzerman made some incredible moves during his tenure, including some great drafting, he hasn’t gotten this team over the hump. This is now seven seasons with no playoffs. There’s no way that Yzerman and his “Yzerplan” can survive this level of ineptitude, right?
Whether it was coaching or goaltending, the Red Wings have made the wrong decision in important holes on the team over and over again. Now, as the drought hits 10 and the Red Wings blew an insane lead on the Ottawa Senators in the standings, it’s possible another GM opening will be coming.