Fans of the Detroit Red Wings will have to wait another year for their beloved franchise to play beyond the 82nd game of the regular season.
Unfortunately, the Red Wings unraveled in the month of March once again, losing what was a comfortable playoff cushion and eventually being eliminated from contention in the 80th game of their centennial campaign.
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Meanwhile, the Carolina Hurricanes have already punched their ticket to the second round of the postseason thanks to a clean four-game sweep of Detroit’s Atlantic Division rival, the Ottawa Senators.
In doing so, they matched an impressive mark set by the Red Wings in 2009 that had not been repeated until now.
The Hurricanes became the first team since the 2009 Red Wings, who swept the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Western Conference Quarterfinal, to never trail at any point during an opening-round series.
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As Red Wings fans may remember, they entered the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the defending Stanley Cup champions.
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Detroit was matched against the Blue Jackets, who were making their very first playoff appearance.
Just like the Hurricanes did to the Senators, the Red Wings proved to be simply too much for the Blue Jackets to handle.
The only competitive game of the series was Game 4 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, a wild back-and-forth affair that ultimately resulted in a 6-5 victory for Detroit.
Johan Franzen scored the game-winning goal with 46 seconds left in regulation after an ill-advised bench minor penalty assessed to the Blue Jackets for too many men on the ice.
Detroit would then go on to enjoy a thrilling seven-game series win over the Anaheim Ducks, followed by a five-game series win over the Chicago Blackhawks to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight season.
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However, it would be the Pittsburgh Penguins pulling off a stunning upset, winning the series in seven games and skating the Stanley Cup on Joe Louis Arena ice.
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