Vegas oddsmakers backing Detroit Red Wings playoff surge

Derek Lalonde, a week ago, was aware of Las Vegas sportsbooks' hesitance to project his team for the playoffs.

Now, the Detroit Red Wings have forced the oddsmakers to change their tune.

After winning two straight games, Lalonde quipped last week he was confident in his team's ability to compete with the NHL's best and reach the postseason for the first time since 2016, even if the market was still skeptical.

The Red Wings now have a six-game unbeaten streak, after dismantling the Washington Capitals 8-3 on Tuesday, the longest winning streak for the franchise since 2018-19.

The win pushed them three points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first wild-card spot, and eight points clear of the New Jersey Devils at the cut line.

Now, if Lalonde, the team's coach, checks to see what Vegas projects, it looks a lot different than it did a week ago.

The Red Wings have -400 odds to make the playoffs according to FanDuel and +285 to miss (giving them a roughly 75% chance to make), projecting confidence the team will end the second-longest active playoff drought in the league.

Thanks to the torrid run over the past 11 days resulting in 12 points, the Red Wings are projected to clear the proverbial 90-point threshold, typically the number of points needed to make the playoffs, and the 92-point mark that was necessary in 2022-23. BetMGM currently has the Red Wings listed at 96½ season points, as does FanDuel, with the odds favoring the over (-130) versus the under (+100), while they are overwhelmingly favored to clear 90 points (-2500).

2024 has been kind so far for Hockeytown, as the Red Wings turned around their playoff odds from less than 10% at the New Year, to 76% currently, according to projections by The Athletic. The Wings have a 16-4-2 record in this calendar year, which has completely flipped their playoff prospects.

When Lalonde made that statement, the Red Wings had 65 points through 55 games, on pace for 95. But the winning streak, tied for the longest in the NHL along with the Nashville Predators, has pushed their pace out to 100 over the 82-game season.

The Red Wings are also inching closer to escaping the wild-card spot. Detroit is currently two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have a game in hand, for the third spot in the Atlantic Division.

A big reason for the Red Wings' push has been the potent offense that can produce goals from every line (12 players have double-digit goals), resulting in the fifth-most goals scored this season (211 or 3.58 per game). They are generating the fourth-most power-play goals (50) on the second-most opportunities, according to Hockey Reference.

Another reason has been improved defense and goaltending during the recent stretch. The Red Wings are 20th in the league in goals against per game this season (3.15), but have held opponents to 2.8 goals per game in the past 10, and 1.7 during the six-game win streak.

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