@ Detroit

The blue and white circus pulled into Detroit to remind everyone that holding a lead is merely a suggestion, not a requirement. Despite being outshot nearly two-to-one, the depth chart luminaries like Logan Shaw and Michael Pezzetta managed to find the back of the net. Even Alex Nylander and Nicholas Robertson joined the party, giving the faithful that dangerous flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, this roster of fringe NHLers and hopefuls could actually close out a game against a Red Wings squad that treated the Toronto crease like an open-air buffet.

Naturally, the script followed the usual tragicomic beats. After Cedric Pare padded the lead in the third, the defensive structure dissolved faster than a sugar cube in a hot coffee. Letting Michael Brandsegg-Nygård look like a Hart Trophy candidate was a nice touch, but allowing Albert Johansson to tie things up in the final minute of regulation was the chef’s kiss of inevitable collapses. By the time Dylan Larkin tucked away his second of the game in overtime, it felt less like a loss and more like a warm, familiar blanket of disappointment. Surrendering 42 shots while only managing 25 is exactly the kind of mid-season form we’ve come to expect, and yet, here we are, ready to do it all over again.