Todd McLellan puts Red Wings on blast after costly defeat against Senators

The Detroit Red Wings let a great opportunity slip through their fingers. Needless to say, Todd McLellan wasn’t a fan of the loss at home against the Ottawa Senators. However, it wasn’t the final score that bothered him as much as the team’s performance.

“We were a little bit sluggish for whatever reason,” Todd McLellan commented after the Red Wings lost 3-2 to the Senators, via NHL.com.

Detroit outshot Ottawa 35-21, but was inefficient and paid the price for it. After this defeat, and considering they were coming off a loss to the Boston Bruins, the Red Wings have now dropped consecutive outings against direct opponents in the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the 2025-26 NHL season. McLellan is well aware the Red Wings are now standing on thin ice, and something must change.

Where Red Wings stand in playoff race

Detroit is currently on the outside looking in. The Red Wings sit in sixth place in the Atlantic Division and are one point behind the Senators—the last wild-card berth at the moment. A win over the Sens would’ve put the Red Wings in a playoff spot while giving them a three-point lead over their divisional counterparts.

Todd McLellan speaks to media.

While deflating, this defeat is far from season-ending for Detroit, but it does complicate things more than they needed to be in Motor City. The Red Wings have missed the playoffs in each of their last nine seasons, and they are now facing a very real possibility of missing the postseason for a 10th straight year.

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With the Buffalo Sabres sitting in first place in the Atlantic Division, the Red Wings could go on to have the longest active playoff drought in the NHL. Perhaps not even the “Yzerplan” rebuild and McLellan’s arrival will help change the tune in Detroit, as fans in the 313 have been treated to the same old heartbreaking Red Wings for a decade now.